


Sink Or Swim

by JustAndrea



Series: The Awesome Redemption Arc [8]
Category: Wander Over Yonder (Cartoon)
Genre: Action, Fighting, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Mentions of Blood, Royal Family Drama, mind control (sort of), references to past events/ptsd
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-19
Updated: 2018-06-24
Packaged: 2019-05-09 04:05:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 35,275
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14708751
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JustAndrea/pseuds/JustAndrea
Summary: When the Skull Ship flies into Awesome's old system, the emperor-turned-private decides to visit his home planet and check up on things. Unfortunately, things have changed quite a bit since he left, especially now that there's a new emperor in charge...





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> It's the beginning of the end for the Awesome Arc! Consider this story to be the climax of it, with the next oneshot being a sort of epilogue to the series. Anyway, hope you enjoy! ^v^

The lights were dimmed, the crowd was shushed, and as the giant tv screen behind the stage lit up with the Lord Hater logo, the pillars beside it released several rounds of bright green fireworks. The Watchdogs cheered, their attentions immediately grabbed. ...Well, all except one Watchdog, and really, he wasn’t even an actual Watchdog. Just another member of the Hater Empire Army, who couldn’t help but be amused at the whole thing.

“Okay, I can totes get wanting to hype up your crew for a job,” Awesome began to say, smirking at the whole ordeal, “I mean, I used to promise my guys a round of jello shots and a weekend off for a job well done. But, come on, do we really have to do all this for EVERY mission briefing? I still say either one of them is compensating for something.” (A small part of him asked if he really had any room to talk, but Awesome quickly told that part to shut up.)

“Hey man, don’t knock it!” one Watchdog said, giving the shark-man a small glare as the rest of his fellow soldiers continued to cheer, “It’s better than him just screaming orders at us.”

“Yeah!” Another Watchdog - one of the boys in defense - spoke up, “Or just giving us a list of our orders. At least this is fun!”

“Just as long as Hater doesn’t bring out the tee shirt cannon again…” His buddy next to him mumbled.

Awesome shrugged, and leaned against the back wall of the large room. “Fair enough.” Another round of fireworks brought everyone’s attention back to the stage, where their commander and lord were finally making their appearances. Peepers took the spotlight first, while Hater stood in the shadows, his glowing eyes adding just enough intimidation to the whole affair.

“Alright men, are you ready for battle?” Peepers asked, his voice despite being a bit nasally having no need for a microphone, being MORE than loud enough to travel over his audience’s roars of excitement. .

“Yeah!” The Watchdogs shouted back at him.

“Are you all ready to take this planet, for the GLORY and PRIDE of our amazing empire?!”

“YEAH!”

“And are you ready… To help restructure a planet’s infrastructure, taking out the threats to its citizens and bring peace?!”

_ “YEAHHHHHH!” _ The Watchdogs screamed, jumping up and down and fist pumping as they continued to cheer, being just loud enough to cover up Peepers’ sigh… It definitely wasn’t conquering, not even close to the excitement or glory of ACTUALLY taking over a planet… But at least he was still leading an army and making plans. At least he still had that.

“Alright-” The image on the giant screen changed to an image of a mossy looking green planet with several small moons surrounding it. Awesome tilted his head a bit, suddenly curious. He knew for a fact he didn’t ever throw a party there - the place looked way too swampy and thick (not in the good way, but the annoying and super-crowded-with-plants way) for one of his bashes. 

So then… Why did it seem familiar?

“Our target: Mossapootamia! Originally known for, well, it’s moss. HOWEVER, this is no ordinary moss! Not only is it stronger than your average moss, being able to be made into clothes that are thicker and more resistant than leather, but it can also be altered at a molecular level. When adjusted and then burned a certain way, this moss releases an abundant source of energy, providing whatever it’s fueling with enough power to last for-!”

“So it’s basically just moldy gasoline?” someone - a recent recruit meant to replace Tim from Accounting - shouted from the back.

“...In layman's terms, yes,” Peepers answered, giving the soldier a quick glare before clearing his throat. “Anyway, after the attack of a certain overlord who shall NOT be named, most of this moss was destroyed. However, thanks to the planet coming back to life, a bit of it was able to come back to life, now stronger and more resistant than ever!” It’d almost be inspiring if it wasn’t, well, moss.

“So, for half of you, you’ll be assisting the Mossapootamias in clearing land and planting sections of new moss,” the commander continued, pointing to the moons as well as the more clear parts of the planet that weren’t near any deep chasms that were left behind by Dominator’s drill. “With our technology and numbers, the job will be easy as pie! And, in several months when all of this moss is fully grown, the Moosapootamias will no doubt give us some as a well deserved reward. However… This is not our ONLY job on this planet…”

The screen changed again, now showing several mugshots that mostly consisted of aliens with short fuzzy hair, stout bodies and four eyes, growling at the camera. Though there were a few others who looked like they were from off-planet, now doubt looking for an easy score. “Like with most planets in our Galaxy, Mossapootamia’s currently unstable society has led to the appearance of several gangs that now threaten its citizens. So, for the rest of you, you’ll simply be hunting them down and taking them out before they can do us or the rest of the planet’s people any harm-”

“Not that they’d actually have a chance…” Hater added, finally speaking up. His soldiers were standing on their tiptoes now, trying to get a good view. In a flash, the spotlight went off - though, that was no issue for their lord. He simply lit up his hands with powerful green lighting, providing all the stage lighting that he needed. “For there is no force in the Galaxy that can stand up to me - to  _ us! _ And these gangs, as well as this entire planet, will soon know what it means when you decide to mess with LORD HATER AND HIS WATCHDOGS!”

Said army was practically going crazy now with excitement. One of the Watchdogs started up a “Hate’s Great, Best Villain” chant, and everyone else quickly joined in. Even Awesome began chanting after a while, unable to help himself. The phrase was just so catchy - which was probably why they hadn’t bothered to change it despite Hater no longer really being a villain. ‘Heh, Hatey and Peepsqueak really do know how to put on a show,’ he thought to himself.

Grinning, Hater soaked in the praise and admiration for a bit longer before finishing up his speech. “Alright Watchdogs, eyes up! Peepers is going to give you your orders, whether you’re helping out with the moss growing and reconstruction and all that stuff, or if you’re going after all the gangs. And remember, make sure it’s an actual bad guy you’re threatening and not just a citizen. Come on guys, we don’t do that anymore!”

“Any signs of hostility towards the planet in general rather than its threats could result in tensions later,” Peepers warned, wagging a finger at his men like a mother reminding her hundreds of sons, “However, if we do our jobs right, we should be signing a Mossapootamian treaty by sundown!”

“Resulting in yet another planet to add to my empire!” Hater added, “and once again confirming that I am the GREATEST IN THE GALAXY!” With that, the skeletal lord quickly made his own sparks and fireworks while his Watchdogs began to chant again.

Soon enough, the house lights were brought back up as Hater and Peepers left the stage, and the Watchdogs began marching towards the ‘mouth’ of the ship.

“Mosssapootamia…” Awesome mumbled to himself, his steps a bit slower as he tried to think, “Come on, where have I-” His eyes widened. “Duh! Of course! Can’t believe I didn’t- Oh man!” Grinning a bit now, he easily stepped over his fellow soldiers and ran as fast as he could back to the pep rally - specifically, to the backstage area.

It was strange, he never really cared about going there before… Certainly not while he was out partying and hooking up with the gorgeous babes and bros of the Galaxy. If anything, he had wanted to get as far from it as possible, if only so he could do his own thing. But now, now the idea almost seemed comforting. Nostalgic, exciting, like something he just had to do now that he was near it.

Maybe getting tortured and traumatized before ruining your entire rep and then working for several months to build even a little bit of it back up just had a tendency of putting things into perspective...

“Are you sure we have to only ask for this moss stuff? Couldn’t we ask for some of their emeralds too? We could probably do a bunch of cool stuff with those, right? And they’d certainly smell better…”

“While I’m glad you’re doing research on planets before tak- er, admitting them into your empire, Sir,” Peepers began, “I can assure you that asking for 5% of their moss is a very good deal. Besides, with their planet being so broken at one point, I’m sure their emeralds are even more rare - and therefore even more valuable - than their moss. Taking what could be their only source of real capital until new ones are formed could be seen as-”

“Seen as a totally evil thing to do, right,” Hater sighed. The skeletal lord pouted, wishing that he could just take the emeralds like he was so used to doing - just like he had wanted to do with the blue-diamond mines on Zakorya 5, or the vast hidden emergency-treasury of Demurra and Dracor’s planet… But then he remembered how loud the Zakoryans had cheered when he helped unbury some of their deeper mines and how they called him their hero, and how much fun he ended up having when he went to the Dragon King and Queen’s royal charity ball, hanging out with his new fellow-ruler friends (as well as playing with their kids)... 

Things that never would’ve happened if he had just taken what he wanted. Things that wouldn’t have happened if he wasn’t technically a good guy now.

“Ugh, whatever…” he said finally, “Just make sure we get some emeralds later when they have enough, got it?” His commander gave him a proud smile, and wrote a note down on his clipboard. 

“Will do, Sir! Alright, now, we still have a day until we land, so I’d like to go over some horticultural tips with the Watchdogs, just so they don’t accidentally-”

“HEY! You, Hatey! C-Peeps!” Looking up, the two saw Awesome sprinting towards them. Once he got closer, he slowed down and flashed them a cool, “just a fellow chill bro, no ulterior motives here” grin, hoping to put on a little charm. “Hey dudes.”

“Hey Awesome,” Hater nodded, just curious enough to not be annoyed, “What-?”

“If you’re here to ask if you can choose what job you’re assigned then you’re out of luck,” Peepers told him, the chill look clearly having no effect on him. Crossing his arms as he pressed his clipboard across his chest, he explained, “It’s all assigned randomly, and I’m certainly not about to make an exception for you, Private.”

Rolling his eyes slightly, Awesome continued, “That wasn’t what I was gonna ask, Peeps. I was just gonna say… Well, you know that planet we’re going to? The mossy one? Well, I may not know much about Mossapootamia, but I DO know a little about the solar system it’s in.”

“And we should care becauuuuse?” Hater asked.

The shark-man grinned. “Because it’s MY system, bro!”

Peepers blinked. “ _ Your _ system?”

“Yeah, brah! My home turf, which means that just a few lightyears away from Mossa are my home tides.” His smile softened a bit as he thought about it. Home… “Heh, it’s definitely been a while, but-”

“Wait, your home planet?” Hater asked, “Seriously? Wait, is it some kind of annoying, loud party planet or a rave planet whatever?”

“Tc’ch, hardly.” At least, not while you were under the water. There weren’t exactly a ton of night clubs or hot spots for raves either... However, it was still admittedly a pretty cool place. In fact, once you were above the waves, it was actually a pretty great place to grow up on - and the fact that he hadn’t seen it in forever just made him all the more excited. “You guys ever hear of Aqualla?”

“Aqualla…” Peepers hummed, and quietly searched his brain for any scrap of information he might have had on the place. “Was it ever a trading partner of Mossapootamia?”

“Nah,” Awesome shook his head, “A lot of the higher ups who ran that sort of thing thought that our planet had all we needed. Totally on the side of ‘home grown is better’, you know? Though, I did hear about a couple of aristocrats who wanted to try and buy some moss to help open a restaurant or whatever.” 

When he caught the look they were giving him, he just shrugged. “Hey, it could’ve tasted good on some of our seaweed and oyster dishes.” He then winced slightly. “Buuut I guess the Mossa-bros weren’t feelin’ that idea, so no deals ever went down.”

“No surprise there,” Peepers mumbled. Being offended seemed like a reasonable reaction to have when someone who tried to suggest that such an important plant would be best used as a simple salad topping. “But if you don’t have any actual leverage or advice you can offer us, then why are you bringing all of this up?”

“Ugh, seriously Peepsqueak?” Awesome asked, raising an eyebrow, “I was trying to say that, while we’re in my part of the Galaxy, we might as well make a quick pit stop!” Grinning again, he added, “Especially if it’s a planet as AWESOME as me~!” ...Okay, maybe not THAT awesome but, come on, it was his home! He had to vouch for it!

“Hmph,” Hater scowled slightly, “And how do we know it’s as ‘awesome’ as you say?” For all they knew, this could be Awesome wanting to take a vacation, and having knowledge of the area as well as a possible shark-man army that he could call on would make ditching his Watchdog duties to go party or whatever even easier.

Awesome however had been expecting a bit of pushback, so he was calm. “Well, my planet does have some pretty great features. Lots of refreshing water to take a dip in, great food and drinks, good vibes, plenty of sun and cool breezes, tons of fun things to do on the islands, including plenty of beach for your crew to enjoy, and without a ton of lame tourists to hog it-”

“And if it’s so great, why did you leave in the first place?” Peepers asked suddenly.

Awesome stopped, choking slightly on his words. And after a couple seconds of uncomfortable silence, he countered with, “Why did YOU leave your home?” 

“...” Peepers showed no change of emotion in his face, though he did grip his clipboard a bit more tightly. 

“...Besides,” Awesome continued when he didn’t get an answer, “Here I may just be a Watchdog private, but there? I’m a legit emperor! I’m THE emperor!” 

“But you’re never there!” Hater argued, “That’s what emperors and kings and presidents and rulers are supposed to do, right? Stay on their planet and, you know, rule?” And while he didn’t say it outloud, the skeletal lord couldn’t help but wonder: If Awesome had lost control of all his other planets, why would he still have control over this planet just because he was born there?

The shark bared his teeth a bit at this, but still ultimately managed to keep his cool. “Okay sure, I’m not exactly running the joint at the moment. BUT, I was the dude who put together a council in charge of that stuff, to just make sure things ran smoothly while I was out, uh, ‘expanding the Aquallan kingdom’, and it’s a council that still has to listen to me! I still have status!” His smirk quickly returned as he leaned down, getting direct eye-contact with Peepers. 

“Which means that while we’re there, I could get you anywhere you want. And you know,  _ you _ could totally check out all our resources up close. Get your hands on some awesome Aqualla ‘sources, boost the empire’s cash pit a bit, maybe strike a trade deal or two. Hey, maybe we could even find Hatey something shiny to make him happy?”

“Hey, I don’t like things just because they’re shiny!” Hater told him, though he was mostly ignored, “It’s not my fault shiny things are usually also cool!”

“So what do you say, C. Peeps?” Awesome asked, standing up straight now and putting his hands on his hips, “You really wanna miss out on an opportunity like this, eye-bro?”

The commander hummed, only slightly aggravated now. After all these months and how much time they’d spent together, Awesome definitely knew how to appeal to him. “...And just what could you offer us, and how much of it?”

“I dunno,” Awesome shrugged, flashing another toothy grin, “Guess you’ll have to go there yourself and pick out what you like~”

“Ugh…” Annoying little… Still, it was a decent proposition. And frankly, Peepers  _ hated _ not having information on something. Aqualla was a mystery, and it had just as much of a chance at being a source of profit for the Hater Empire as it did at being a source of laziness and beach bumming for his men. But maybe that was a risk worth taking. 

Thinking it over, Peepers then turned to his lord. “Well, Sir? What do you think? Should we schedule a stop on Aqualla after assisting Mossapootamia?”

“Well, I don’t know…” Hater told him, taping his boney chin in thought before scowling, “I mean, Aqualla. Aquaaaalla… Aqua is Spanish or something for water, right? And a planet that’s entirely made out of water just seems really annoying. You’d be wet all the time! And I mean, what could a dumb planet like that even-?”

“Actually, bruh, we have several islands that are pretty big,” Awesome corrected, “Big enough for towns, at least. Oh, and palm trees. Did I mention the palm trees? Yeah, they’re pretty standard. Good shade, strong bark. Though, instead of growing coconuts or fruit or whatever, the liquid’s actually in the trees. Oh yeah, it’s pretty sweet. You just shove a pump in the trunk of one and you practically get a free milkshake. From what I remember, they tasted pretty chocolatey too. All rich and refreshing and sweet-”

“I’m in,” Hater told him, trying not to look too amazed at the idea, “We’re going. But just for a couple days!”

“-And THAT, is flarpin’ sweet!” Laughing, Awesome did a quick twirl before throwing up a ‘rock and roll’ sign. “Thanks guys! Trust me, we’re all gonna have an awesome time!”

“Yeah, yeah.” “Just don’t get distracted! You still have a job to do!”

Already running (or, maybe it was dancing) out of the room, Awesome just shouted over his shoulder, “No prob, I’m on it!”

Peepers rolled his eye, already regretting this little side trip. ...Still, he did remind himself that despite a rough start, Awesome had gotten a bit more responsible and trustworthy. And, when you actually have good memories of your home planet, why wouldn’t you want to pay it a visit?

But even so- “This better not be one huge prank,” Peepers grumbled, directing his attention back to his clipboard and wanting to focus on his plans in the present, plans that he knew would work out.

“Hmph, yeah,” Hater nodded, “And he better not be lying about the milkshake trees.”

**TO BE CONTINUED**


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I changed the total chapter number from '4' to '5'. And if writing this chapter has showed me anything, it's that this story may end up being even longer than what I was expecting, so who knows, this thing may end up having six chapters. Lol, anyway, enjoy!

Unsurprising, it took a bit of time for the large Skull Ship to find a place to land. According to Peepers’ research - which had been much more difficult than he had expected, since not much about Aqualla was made public - only about 13% of the planet was land, and most of that was either densely populated areas with many buildings and structures, thick forests and a couple steep mountains. Eventually though, they were able to find a wide beach that didn’t seem to be in use at the moment, despite the very pleasant weather.

Naturally, the fact that they had a beach entirely to themselves just made the Watchdogs all the more excited. Dressed in matching red and black swim trunks and carrying various accessories and water toys, the Watchdogs ran out of the ship as soon as its tongue unrolled onto the sandy shore, chanting “BEACH DAY! BEACH DAY! BEACH DAY!” instead of their usual slogan.

Peepers rolled his eye at the sight. “I know they enjoy having vacations, but can’t they at least  _ act  _ professional? Just a few minutes?” he mumbled.

As for Hater, he already wasn’t too impressed with the place. “I guess the purple ocean is kinda cool-” Which made sense, given that Aqualla’s sky was a lovely shade of periwinkle, “-even if purple’s still a dumb color. But there’s no one here! And I don’t see any of those milkshake trees either!”

“That’s cause both those things are on the bigger islands, bro,” a voice from behind them explained, “So if you want cool dudes to hang with and refreshing palm tree drinks to drink, then we’ve gotta make an extra trip. You guys ready?”

“Of course,” Peepers nodded. He adjusted the pack on his back, making sure the weight in it was balanced, before turning around - and blinking at what he saw.

Rather than wearing the uniform he had been forced to wear the last several months, Awesome was wearing his usual emperor attire, something that while familiar now almost seemed new. Tight hot-pink pants with a spiky, polished white heeled boots, and a neon blue tank top. His freshly shined crown and medallion finished off the look, along with some purple eyeshadow and blood-red lipstick. The only thing missing was his cape, which didn’t seem necessary given that the planet was so warm.

“...Hey, come on, Peeps,” Awesome said, giving him a small smile, “You couldn’t expect me to wear your uniform on my terf, did you?”

“I suppose not,” Peepers answered after a moment. It did annoy him slightly, but he couldn’t exactly blame the private for wanting to go back to looking like a successful emperor, at least for one day. “Well, let’s get going then. And you had better make this trip worth our while, Private.”

“Tc’ch, of course! I told you we had great stuff here, didn’t I?” Awesome retorted, looking a bit smug now as he crossed his arms, “Trust me, Peepsqueak, it’ll totes be worth it.”

Peepers could believe that somewhat, since he had also managed to find a bit of information about what Aqualla could offer. Gold and a few other minerals (none of which unique to just Aqualla), coral and pearls seemed to be their main resources, as well as various flora and fauna. However, with not much detail or description to go off of, he wouldn’t be able to access the value of these things or figure out if any of it was worth anything to the Hater Empire until he saw it up close. 

Not wanting to waste anymore time, he took out a remote and pressed a single button. From the back of the ship, a small door opened up. Mechanical arms pushed a large jet-ski (red and black with the Hater Empire logo, of course) out into the open sky. Rockets from the jet-ski activated, allowing it to slowly float down and carefully land in the dark purple waters below.

Grinning widely, Awesome slid down the tongue and ran towards the vehicle, with Hater and Peepers not too behind him. He took a deep breath as he ran, breathing in the familiar, fresh open air as his gills stretched out, which only lifted his mood even further upwards. He could already feel memories -  _ good _ memories, for once - flooding back into him like the returning tides.

Seeing all his old hang out spots and the parts of his home that he actually enjoyed again, soaking up the sun and surf and all the fun stuff in between, and overall just having a good time and feeling how he _ should _ have been feeling, being an emperor of awesomeness and partying as well as an emperor of Aqualla.

Yes, this trip was most definitely going to be AWESOME!

()()()()()()()()()

“This is it, bros!”

“Ugh, FINALLY!” Not caring if he got his shoes wet, Hater hopped off the jet-ski and tried to shake the stiffness out of his bones as he stomped onto dry land.

As for Peepers, he stayed on the vehicle a bit longer, getting a good look at the area. “...This is it?” he repeated, not quite seeing the ‘awesomeness’ just yet. All he could see was a bare beach and a short skyline...

Awesome raised an eyebrow. “You got a problem with it?”

“No, not necessarily,” he answered. After all, he didn’t see anything wrong with the planet so far, but… “It’s just different than what I was expecting.”

“Hmph, trust me, dude,” Awesome said as he stepped off the jet-ski and into the water, “Compared to other places here, this island’s definitely  **the** coolest place on Aqualla. Maybe not the most awesome or most epic place in the Galaxy but…” He gave a small smile. “Still cool.”

“Well, alright,” Peepers nodded, following, “If you say so.” Honestly, it didn’t matter to him if the planet was cool or not, just as long as it had those ‘sweet resources’ Awesome was bragging about.

“Uhh, guys?” Hater said suddenly. They looked up to see him pointing at the sky. “Are those birds or fish?”

Awesome followed his gaze, and answered with a simple “Yes.” The three of them watched as a pair of beaked flying fish managed to catch a couple bugs in the air. Chirping happily, the fish did a couple loops in the air before retracting their fins and diving back into the water.

Like the one they had landed on, this beach was very quiet and empty. Only a few people were there - just a couple sea cucumber-men napping in the sun, and an older squid-woman reading under an umbrella. Certainly different from the busy beaches of Seashoronicous 5 or Bayoceon 8. And as they walked up onto the boardwalk, it really didn’t get any busier, despite all the brightly painted restaurants and bodegas alongside the open kitschy and accessory shops and food stands.

If anything, it was almost… concerning.

“Huh. Well, I guess things have changed a little,” Awesome mumbled as he looked around. The surface used to be busy, right? And there was no way he’d forget if his old childhood turf was THIS damaged. He wouldn’t forget buildings with huge cracks on their sides, needing to be propped up with pieces of wood or bricks. Or the once beautiful pointed roofs of some of the houses and businesses now broken and missing tiles. Or all the faded signs or cracked and broken windows or splintered bamboo fences, or-

He froze as he noticed several spots on the various buildings that looked like they had been torched, burnt so badly that the blackness hadn’t faded at all. Awnings over shops with burnt holes in them, the few crooked palm tree trunks that looked like they had been haphazardly chopped down, broken planks in the boardwalk…

“Of course,” Awesome muttered, squeezing his fists. He hadn’t thought much of his home planet while he was hiding and running, but part of him had been hoping that, given it was mostly made of water, maybe  _ she _ would’ve avoided Aqualla altogether. But of course, she never missed an opportunity to have a little ‘fun’, or an opportunity to destroy...

‘It must not have been that bad though,’ he told himself, ignoring burning sensations that were beginning to travel down his body. He took another deep breath. ‘At least most of the buildings are still standing. They’re fine. It’s fine.  _ I’m fine’ _ .

“Awesome?” 

He flinched, and met the curious looks Peepers and Hater were giving him. “...Tc’ch, must be construction season or somethin’,” he said, giving a shrug as casually as he could. He then started walking again, his steps quick yet still calm. “Come on, there’s more stuff up ahead.”

Even if the area wasn’t too busy, Awesome still eventually found himself smiling once more. The various pinks and blues and golden yellows of the shops they passed were familiar. On some of the more less-damaged ones, old colorful surfboards were used as both signs and decor (a total Aqualla aesthetic). He could faintly smell burgers and grilled fish with shrimp on the breeze, and the instances of artistic graffiti in the alleyways (and sometimes on the businesses themselves) let him know that there weren’t just shopkeepers there. 

Turning onto another street further proved this, thankfully. He could see a few more people walking around, casually browsing at the tees, beach gear and snacks sold at various shops. Not exactly a crowd, but not totally deserted either. ...Granted there were also a few closed businesses and empty buildings but, even so- “Guess we just arrived at a slow part of the day, you know?” he explained as they walked past a lobster-man sitting on the sidewalk, playing the bongos for spare change. He made sure to drop a couple Haterzoids in the street performer’s hat. 

Peepers glanced into a baked goods store. With its open entrance, he could easily see the seahorse-woman napping at the counter - as well as the two dolphin-boys that were swiping muffins. “Slow is right,” he mumbled, “You would think this place would have a bigger tourism market.” Surely the other beach planets weren’t completely cornering the market on vacations.

“Eh, we don’t really market our home,” Awesome shrugged, “Remember how I said a lot of people here prefer to eat things ‘home grown’? Well, it’s like that with travel and outsiders too. Not a ton of people leave here, and I know a lot of people - at least when I was a kid - hated the idea of this place becoming just some tacky tourist trap like Phunulon or whatever. Can’t really blame them. Like, I’m all for mosh pits and huge crowds, but not having any room to swim or sunbathe it’s just the worst.”

Peepers could understand that mindset somewhat, but if this was the alternative… He watched as a sea urchin closed up their shop, despite it still being early in the day. In the distance, near the edge of a small forest, stood an old ferris wheel that wasn’t much more than a wooden skeleton at this point. “If this is the alternative, then perhaps a bit of tourist revenue would be worth the crowds,” he said quietly.

Stumbling slightly over another cracked piece of boardwalk, Hater huffed. “Still not really seeing the ‘cool’ part of this place,” he told them, crossing his arms.

Awesome shot him a glare. “Chillax, bro. You’re just not appreciating the  _ true _ coolness of this place.” True, the coolness was maybe a bit more subtle these days but… 

“Oh come on, Awesome! I mean-!” He looked over on a bench, where two seemingly dead beaked-fish laid. “What’s so ‘cool’ about a place with dead fish!” he shouted, walking over to the bench.

“Uhh, Hatey, dude, I wouldn’t-!”

Hater tried to grab one, just to prove his point- 

The fish opened their eyes. “SQUAWK!” “EEK!” With a yelp, he backed up, but it was too late. Immediately, the fish flapped off the bench, using their wing-like fins to fly up and peck him right on the skull. “Get off get off GET OFF!” he shouted, trying to shoo them away. The fish managed to get in a couple more hits before flying off towards the ocean.

“Sir-?” _ “Sn’rk.” _

Hater spun around, his electric hands now taking aim right at the snickering shark. “H-Hey, I tried to warn you, man!” Awesome offered, barely holding back his laughter. Hater’s lightning became brighter. “Okay okay, uhhhh…”

Looking around, he spotted a familiar diner sitting in between a skate shop and a closed tattoo parlor, and smiled. Finally, something that was just how he remembered - Aquallan eats! “Hey, I know what’ll pick you up, bro. Come on, let’s all grab a bite! Last one there buys!” Laughing, he ran forward, while his commander and lord just scowled.

“Well, we might as well eat something,” Peepers mumbled as they started walking, “Then at least we’d be getting something out of all of this.”

“Hmph, it better not be a dumb sushi place, Awesome! Cause I swear to grop, if I have to eat gross raw fish-!”

“Hey, pal. Feelin’ lucky?” Hater stopped, and looked over at the voice that had called to him. A older looking whale-shark with several missing teeth was grinning at him from his table set up under a wilting palm tree. The whale-shark tapped one of the hollow coconut shells. “Just pick the coconut with the hermit shell under it! Come on, man, it’s easy!”

“Huh, yeah…” Hater thought about it for a moment before smiling. He was sure that he could totally pick the right coconut without even needing to think about- "Huh? Peepers, what are you-?”

“I wouldn’t waste your time playing this game, Sir,” Peepers politely insisted as he took the skeleton’s hand, pulling him towards the diner, “Trust me, it’s not worth it.”

“Hmph, whatever… But I would still would have totally won that game.” “I know, Sir. I know.”

The diner itself had a very ‘beach hut’ look to it. Open windows, walls made of bamboo and drift wood, and a palm frond roof that allowed for lots of air to come in as well as providing cooling shade. Even if it’s all looked a bit aged, it still seemed like a decent place to eat. Only a couple tables were taken, and the barstools were completely free, so that’s what Awesome took. “Aw yeah,” he smirked as he sat down, “Ready for some home-cooked eats!”

Hater and Peepers exchanged a look, but sat down anyway. As for everyone else in the restaurant, they didn’t even look up. A chef with the head of a goldfish soon came to take their orders. “Our specials today are the fried shrimp, the burger, and… Uh, that’s about it.”

“Definitely gonna have to go with the fried shrimp, bruh,” Awesome told him.

Not having much of a choice, Peepers added, “I’ll have the shrimp as well, I suppose.”

“And I’ll have the burger,” Hater said, “Cheese, ketchup, onions, no lettuce, no pickles-”

“Oh, wait,” the fishy chef interrupted, slapping his forehead, “I forgot, we just ran out of burgers. Sorry, mate.”

Hater blinked. “Just ran-? But there’s barely anyone here!” he shouted, gesturing to the rest of the mostly empty diner.

The chef could only shrug. “We uh, haven’t been able to buy too many burgers lately. Sorry…” When he heard his skeletal customer start to growl, he quickly added, “We do have some desserts left though.”

“Ugh, fine. At least I’ll finally get my palm tree milkshake or whatever it is-”

“Actually, we don’t have any milk at the moment, but we could make it with coconut water and it’ll taste almost as go-”

“Oh just forget it!” Hater snapped, standing up. Since he couldn’t very well start throwing lightning bolts and threatening to turn the chef into a literal fish fry - even though part of him REALLY wanted to - he instead chose to walk outside where it was hopefully less frustrating.

“...Guess we’re gettin’ that fried shrimp to go,” Awesome told him. The goldfish chef shrugged again and moved over to the fryers.

Peepers furrowed his brow. As far as he could see, this planet barely had anything, let alone resources that were worth paying or trading for. “I really don’t think things are quite as you remember them, Awesome,” he mumbled.

Awesome however just waved him off. “Nah, it’s fine. Things are just a little messed up cause, you know… Same reason why a lot of planets are messed up. But just because they gotta rebuild some stuff don’t mean this place still isn’t worth something!”

“It’s more than just reconstruction and damage control!” Peepers shot back, just barely managing to keep his voice at a whisper, “All of the closed businesses, the petty crime, the obviously struggling economy. This planet’s practically a ghost town!” He’d seen moons with more activity than this place!

Awesome scowled. “I said, it’s FINE. Aqualla’s islands are just, you know, super lowkey! No super fancy grop here.” If he wanted that, they’d have to go down below… Though Awesome was going to wait on going there for as long as he could. “The islands are all about having a great time! Relaxin’, playing and partying and hangin’ with bros while you’re hangin’ ten-”

“Hmph, it’s kind of hard to ‘hang’ with anyone if there’s barely anyone here,” Peepers flatly retorted. 

Awesome growled. “Look, man-!”

“Haven’t you noticed that no one has even acknowledged that their EMPEROR is here?!” Peepers asked, finally shouting now, “No cheers? No excitement? Not even any fear?  _ Nothing? _ ”

“Wait, the emperor’s here?” the chef asked, a bit of emotion actually managing to slip into his voice at that.

Awesome stared at him. “...Uhhh, yeah dude,” he said, tilting his head - and his crown - towards him, “Sittin’ right under your nose-holes.”

The goldfish blinked. “...Ah, yeah! You’re Hers- Er, no. Uh, was it Amaz- No! Awesome! Yeah, you’re Awesome.”

Even if it faltered for just a moment, Awesome grinned. “That’s right, bro! Your emperor of awesomeness is BACK! No biggie though. I just thought I’d finally stop by for a visit, you know?”

“Heh, I’ll uh, make you a free drink or somethin’. Your, uh, Awesomeness.” 

“Sweetness. Thanks.” However, as satisfied as the so-called ‘emperor’ was, Peepers could only feel all the more skeptical. There was something going on here on Aqualla, and it wasn’t just the lack of an actual leader.

‘Perhaps that’s why things are struggling so much here,’ the commander thought to himself as his gaze began to wander, ‘When their monarch left with the promise of expansion, only to abandon them for parties and making it seem like he’d never return, maybe the residents followed suit. They went to find more stable and profitable places, with only the stubborn remaining…’ It would certainly explain a lot. But Awesome had also said he’d set up some sort of council to run things while he was away, so maybe it was something else-

Peepers stopped, catching something out of the corner of his eye. As soon as he turned back towards the far window to look again, the figure disappeared. Was… Was that a Watchdog? No, the eyeball had been too small, and much too black. “Hmmm…” It was probably nothing, though his military instincts kept him from looking away.

It didn’t take long for Awesome to down his complementary fruity drink, and once the bag of fried shrimp was dropped in front of them, they were on the move again. “Look Peepsqueak, I know you’re all about business,” he started to say, “But while we’re here, we might as well have a little fun~”

Peepers sighed. He knew it. He just KNEW this would happen. “Awesome, you said-”

“I know, and we’ll get to all those lame business deals later, I promise,” Awesome insisted as he dug through the bag. He popped a few fried shrimp into his mouth before continuing. “But we’re already here on the island so, let’s just enjoy ourselves! We could catch a movie, I know Hatey would like that, and there’s a theater over on Shellton and Wave that’s always showing a good action-”

“Theater’s closed!” They heard the chef shout from behind them, “Been under construction for the past nine months!”

“...Oh.” He could see Peepers crossing his arms out of the corner of his eye, but ignored it. “Well, there’s other stuff to do too! Stuff we could check out, or we could just take a swim and enjoy some all-natural Aquallan ocean - and all while getting our sweet tannage on - or we could head downtown and-... And…” Slowly, Awesome’s grin fell a bit, his eyes widening. “...Oh wow…”

“...What?” Peepers asked, “What is it? Is something wrong?” Or did he finally realize that EVERYTHING was wrong?

“Nah, it’s just… Okay, before we do anything, there’s something I just GOTTA check out again.” His smile softened. He couldn’t believe he nearly forgot… though, he doubted that he could ever completely forget about it. 

“Ugh, fine,” Peepers reluctantly agreed. Walking through the open diner entrance, he glanced around. “Let’s just grab Lord Hater and get whatever you want to do over with.” But first, he actually had to  _ find _ Hater, so where was-?

“NO WAY!” 

Peepers’ pupil shrunk. Oh no.

“You cheated!” Hater shouted, pointing an accusing finger at the surprisingly calm whale-shark, “I know for a FACT that the shell was under THIS coconut!”

“Sorry, but it wasn’t,” the conman replied as he played with the shiny new Haterzoids in his hand, “Though, feel free to play again if you’re really that sure you can win. Though, I am going to have to start charging you extra, just to keep things interest- OW!” 

A sharp kick in the shin certainly wasn’t enough be called a villainous act, but it WAS enough to wipe the smirk off his dumb face! Hater growled as he got ready to kick him again. “Ripoff art-HEY!” 

“We’re leaving. Right now,” Peepers ordered, wasting no time dragging his lord away before he could do anymore damage, no matter how much Hater protested. “And Awesome, I’d suggest we ALL get going!”

“Right, yeah,” Awesome nodded, taking the lead as all of them ignored the various curses that the conman shouted at them. 

Though, in their haste, none of them noticed the figure that was still silently looking at them from the corner of the diner, their black eyes wide as they watched…

()()()()()()()()()()

The building was a fairly humble one, if a bit garish with all the streaks of blue and green on the sides of it, no doubt painted by students if the various ‘hip’ slogans and dates were any indication. The building was also pretty big with large windows, allowing for plenty of light (or perhaps even an audience).

Above the old driftwood doorway hung a purple surfboard, the letters ‘GROOVE THANG DANCE STUDIO’ carved across it in big bold lettering. Underneath it in smaller text was ‘Jazz, Hip Hop, Freestyle, Breakdance AND MORE!’. There were also small holes around the sign, giving the idea that there used to be lighting around it. 

The whole place was almost exactly how Awesome remembered it. ...Almost. The darkened dance rooms of the building and the ‘CLOSED’ sign that hung off the door certainly weren’t part of his memories, though they didn’t do much to wipe the smile off his face.

“So… This is where you learned how to dance?” Hater asked as he pressed his boney face to the glass, trying to see what was inside. Honestly, while Hater would never admit that he found any of Awesome’s dances cool, he was at least skilled, so it was hard to imagine him as an amatuer. 

“Yep!” Awesome said proudly, “This and another studio that my mom sent me to when I was a lot younger was where I picked up my basics. Found this place the first time I came to this island.”

“First time?” Peepers blinked, “Wait, I thought you were born-?”

“Ugh, it totally  _ sucks _ that it’s closed today! We’ll have to try and come back before we leave, I’d love to show off some of my new moves to Teach, if she still even works here. Heh, maybe I could even give a couple classes on ‘Awesome Style’. Tc’ch, imagine that, me being a teacher. Brofessor Awesome, here to teach you ALL the awesomest dance moves~”

The Commander rolled his eye. “Oh like you could ever be a professor of anything.”

But Awesome just laughed, still grinning as he leaned up against the old building. “Whatever… See guys, this is what I mean. It’s THIS stuff that really makes Aqualla cool.” This was the stuff that had made his childhood. “Sure, all the water and the beach and all that stuff is great, and yeah Nerd, we’ve got plenty of cool resources and cash and grop too-”

“Of which we still haven’t seen,” Peepers mumbled, narrowing his eye a bit. 

“-but it’s stuff like this that really makes Aqualla cool!” His smile softened a bit. “What makes it home…” 

And in that moment, while he could still recall what made him leave in the first place, it was hard for the emperor to remember just why it had taken him so long to come back.

“...Well, this trip down memory lane has been fun,” Peepers began to say, crossing his arms, “But we had a  _ deal _ , Awesome. And, if you don’t stop wasting our time, Lord Hater and I will just scout out the planet ourselves and you can return to the ship, where I’m sure I can give you plenty of chores and exercises to do!” 

Aaaand just like that, his good mood was ruined. Awesome glared back at him, clenching his fists. “Okay dude, seriously?! Are you really that much of a dork that work is all you think about?! Grod, you are SUCH the worst!” 

“I’M the worst?! I’m not the one who tricked everyone into coming all this way just so YOU could have a rose-colored vacation on your deteriorating childhood home!”

“Yeah!” Hater agreed, both to back up his commander, and to add, “And I still haven’t gotten that so-called ‘amazing palm tree milkshake’ you told us about, so that’s TWO promises you lied about!”

Awesome groaned against, stomping his foot a bit. “Well excuse me for wanting to enjoy myself! And this place is NOT ‘deteriorating’, it’s just fine! Just under a little reconstruction with some slow business numbers! And just ‘cause you guys can’t appreciate this place doesn’t mean you can just rag on it! So quit being such a little jerk, Peepsqueak!”

Peepers huffed, clenching his own fists now. “Look, Awesome, I don’t care what you do here in your downtime, you could even decide to STAY here for all I care! But, as long as I’m still technically your superior, I  _ demand _ that you show us the values and resources this planet has, if any, and stop wasting our time or-!”

He stopped, catching something out of the corner of his eye. 

“...Or what?!” Awesome asked, stepping forward. Seeing this, Hater growled, electrifying his hands. At that point though, Awesome couldn’t really care. It didn’t matter if he lost, he was still ready to throw down. “Come on, Peeps, spit it out-!”

It was then that Peepers moved, getting out his blaster and preparing to fire - though not at Awesome, but at an alleyway across from the dance studio. “HALT!” he shouted.

Immediately, the shadowy figure held up his hands - his rather large, almost mitten-like hands. “Don’t shoot, little man! It’s cool! I’m cool!”

“Why are you following us?!” Peepers demanded, not lowering his blaster.

The figure took a moment to answer. “Well, technically, I was only following him-” He pointed a large hand towards Awesome. “Couldn’t be totally sure since it’s been a while but - that is you, right dude? Awesome?”

Awesome blinked. “Wait… Wait a sec-”

The figure - a stout man with red skin, eyestalks with large black pupils, an extra couple of legs, and large claw-like hands - stepped out, and smiled at him. “Heyyyy.”

Awesome grinned. “Gnarly!” Immediately, he raced over to the crab-man, where the two exchanged several bro-fists and bro-hugs, along with plenty of “Bro!”s and “Dude!”s and “Oh man!”s. 

“...Uhh, ‘Gnarly’?” Hater repeated, his anger once again replaced with just confusion and curiosity.

“Yeah!” Awesome nodded, putting an arm around his old friend’s shoulder, “Gnarly here is one of my best bros! We hung out aaaaaall the time!”

“See, told you I wasn’t a threat, little man,” Gnarly added, giving Peepers a small wave, “So, s’up?”

“...” Peepers looked at the crab up and down. Just behind his eye stalks, he was wearing a pink and black sweatband. A teal tank top with a neon yellow triangle pattern covered most of his body, and was matched with a clear, almost plastic looking tie hanging loosely off his neck. He didn’t need shorts, though he was also wearing two pairs of white converse shoes. 

However, what really caught Peepers’ attention was Gnarly’s backpack - Or, shell? He wasn’t sure - which could only be called either a garbage pile (Peepers’ words) or ‘a mountain of swag’ (Probably Awesome’s words). He was practically covered in buttons, keychains, lanyards, various advertisements and posters, keys, pairs of sunglasses, hats, bags, burger wrappers, candy bar wrappers, napkins, chopsticks, bracelets, scarves, belts, water bottles, earbuds, and at least a dozen other things.

“Well, I can certainly see where Awesome got his fashion sense,” the Commander stated, finally lowering his weapon and putting it away. The two friends shared a laugh at that. 

“You should see the rest of our crew - especially Tubular! Oh man, now  _ they _ now how to put together a look!”

“Tc’ch, yeah they do- Wait. Dude, is everyone still here?” Awesome asked, eyes wide now.

“Uhhhh…” Reaching onto his back, Gnarly dug around for a second or two before pulling out a handful of cell phones that ranged in age and model. “I dunno if they’re free, like, right NOW but, yeah they all still live here.” He then smiled. “Should we meet at the Rock?”

Awesome grinned back at him. “Do you even have to ask?” Taking that as an answer, Gnarly began texting. 

“Aaaand just as I thought, another distraction,” Peepers sighed, “Sir, should we just go explore on our own, before we completely lose this day?”

“Hmph, yeah,” Hater nodded. He may have gotten used to Awesome after living with him for so long. He didn’t really hate him anymore - heck, maybe he could even call him a friend! (Or maybe just a friendly rival. Wouldn’t want to get TOO carried away.) But that didn’t mean that he wanted to spend the rest of the day with a group full of Awesomes! He felt annoyed just thinking about it. “Let’s just-”

“Wait, you guys are coming, right?” Gnarly asked, looking up from his phone, “I hope you’re at least coming, Bones. I just know everyone would wanna see a dude like you! I mean, come on, you’re a living skeleton! Now THAT, is cool!”

“R… Really?” Hater asked, “I mean, I already knew that but, well, I guess I COULD hang out with you guys for a bit longer. You know, just so your old friends can see how cool I am. Wouldn’t want them to miss that.”

Awesome smirked while Peepers just facepalmed. “Sure thing, Hatey~”

“Ugh…” It was official, Peepers told himself, they were officially on vacation. A vacation that Awesome was clearly ruling, and no amount of threats was going to make him give this power up. And so, as Gnarly received his replies and they all started heading towards this ‘rock’, all Peepers could do was hope that this vacation wouldn’t last too much longer.

After all, there still seemed like there was something off about this planet…

**TO BE CONTINUED!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Drew a bit of art for this one ^v^ Anyway, hope you all enjoy the new chapter!

The walk to ‘the rock’ was a bit long, though it certainly wasn’t quiet. For once Tubular began bringing up old tales of various parties and pranks, it was practically impossible to get the two bros to shut up about them. 

“-Like, seriously bruh, what did you think would happen when you tried pouring an ENTIRE bag of marshmallows on a bonfire?!”

“Hey man, there were like a hundred people there! I was just tryin’ to get them to cook faster! And burnt doesn’t mean inedible! ...Besides, that’s not nearly as dumb as the time YOU tried to surf backwards!”

“Oh whatever, man! I totally would’ve nailed it! The waves were just really rough that day!”

“Tc’ch, that wipeout was rough, that was for sure. Broke your snout and everything!” “Shut up!” Awesome gave the crab-man a shove, and Tubular quickly retaliated, the two of them getting into a quick shoving match before laughing and falling into yet another bro-hug.

Hater groaned while Peepers just rolled his eye at the sight. “It’s not too late to ditch them, Sir.”

It was certainly tempting… But Hater didn’t want to leave, only to have Awesome start telling embarrassing stories about him behind his back. Though, even that was starting to seem unlikely. “I mean, how annoying can you get?” he mumbled, crossing his arms, “Just going on and on about all the grop you did as a teenager? No one cares! Especially people who weren’t even there and have no idea what you’re talking about! I mean, at least talk about recent stuff!”

Peepers blinked. “...That’s true, he hasn’t really talked about anything ‘recent’...” Hadn’t even tried bringing it up, or even asking his friend what was new in his life. The Commander hummed. “Maybe he just doesn’t want the conversation to shift towards certain topics…” 

Before he could ponder this thought any further though, he noticed Awesome rushing ahead, leaving the rest of them in the dust. “Here it is!” he shouted over his shoulder as he ran towards what was indeed a very noticeable rock. Tall, large and sort of flat at the top, while also being surrounded by several small stones that somewhat acted as steps. There were also several splatters of paint and various carvings on the old rock, making Awesome smile in nostalgia.

Even in heels, he was able to climb up the giant rock with ease, flopping down on its surface once he reached the top. He could feel the stone burning him slightly, but he didn’t even flinch. It was frustrating, heat had been a tricky element for Awesome ever since his capture. Sometimes he could deal with it just fine, letting it surround him and soak in. Other times, it was suffocating, trapping, practically panic inducing… But this? Nah, this could never make him afraid or upset. This heat felt like  _ home _ .

“...It’s literally just a dumb rock,” he heard Hater say from down below, clearly not impressed.

Rolling onto his stomach, Awesome crawled to the edge of the rock and looked down at the lord. “Tc’ch, it’s not about the rock itself, Hatey, but what the Rock  _ represents! _ ” Closing his eyes, he smiled as he settled back down on the rock. “It’s about having a place to chill with your bros that’s just for you guys and no one else. A place to get some sweet tannage, or enjoy a sunset…” For listening to the latest tunes and having friendly dance battles, or for telling crazy party stories and making fun of any posers or lame-o’s that passed by. 

But mostly, it was for just enjoying life with people who didn’t try to live up to any standards or traditions other than their own. 

Tubular nodded, smiling back at the shark. “Yep. It’s ALWAYS a good time on the Rock.”

“If you say so,” Hater mumbled, still not quite getting it.

“Um, if we’re done admiring the rock,” Peepers spoke up, “Do you think we could move it along?”

Awesome scoffed again, shaking his head. “You just don’t get it, Peepsqueak.” Though maybe that was to be expected, considering the guy only ever seemed to chill in his office (which hardly qualified as a ‘cool space’), as far as Awesome knew.”

“Hey man, some people just never get it.” “Like, not everyone can appreciate the Rock, after all. Especially not shoobies - though, like, no offense.”

Awesome opened his eyes. Quickly, he sat up and crawled to the other side of the rock, and quickly spotted three familiar faces standing on the beach in the massive stone’s shade. The octopus and the sea slug smiled at him while the sea urchin just scowled. “Surprise!” the octopus shouted, raising her tentacles.

Grinning back at them, Awesome slid down the Rock while the others walked around it, getting there just in time to see him pull two of his old friends into a hug. (He had tried to grab the third as well, but the sea urchin backed away before he could.)

“Heyyyyy! Glad you guys could make it!” Tubular shouted at them, “It would suck majorly to not have the whole group together again.”

“Hey, I know I wouldn’t miss this for the world,” the sea slug replied. Their voice was low and deep, but also one of the most relaxed Hater and Peepers had ever heard. As if to match the vibe they were giving off even further, the slug’s clothes were very flowy. A loose, worn pastel pink tee hung off their shoulders while the rest of them was wrapped in shiny metallic fabric. A classic pair of parachute pants. (Or, was it a parachute skirt, considering that the slug didn’t really have any legs?) Even the slug’s body itself seemed to go with the flow, its body moving like jello. Red spots and a few orange lines adorned their white skin, and while they didn’t have any eyes, they did have two stubby red antennas that stuck out at the top of their head.

“Me neither!” the octopus chirped, still hugging Awesome tightly, the giant bow on her head poking his face slightly, “It’s been too long, dude! Didn’t think you were ever coming home!” This friend definitely looked ready for the beach, wearing a sundress with a flowery pattern with a couple pink and blue belts around her waist, and yellow legwarmers on the ‘ankles’ of most of her tentacles. And if her outfit somehow didn’t help her stand out, the rest of her certainly would. While her skin was a simple pale green, she easily towered over the rest of the crew, being the tallest as well as the curviest. 

“Honestly, I’m still surprised he  _ did _ come home,” the sea urchin retorted, finally speaking. She had four eyes, all of them narrowed at Awesome. Her skin was a dark grey tone and her hair - if it even was hair - was nothing but black spikes, sharp and deadly with just a couple small accessories stabbed into a few of them. She was a bit shorter than Awesome and very petite, but that hardly seemed to matter to her. She rocked a leather jacket, complete with broad shoulder pads with a neon purple tube top underneath it, as well as a dark denim mini skirt and black heeled boots that looked almost identical to Awesome’s.

“Come on, TE, I would’ve came home eventually,” Awesome insisted, flashing a toothy grin at her, but that just made her scowl deepen. 

“So, who are your new friends, dude?” the sea slug asked.

“Yeah!” the octopus nodded as she finally put him down, “You better not be replacing us.”

“Heh, never! Promise!” The sea urchin scoffed, but didn’t say anything more. “Okay guys-” He pointed at the two newcomers, “This here is Hatey and Peeps-”

“ _ Lord _ Hater,” Hater corrected. 

“And Commander  _ Peepers _ ,” Peepers added

“Ohhh, so YOU’RE the guys we’ve been hearing about,” The octopus said, looking sort of curious now, “I mean, like, okay Aqualla isn’t exactly super connected to the rest of the Galaxy but, like, even we can’t miss hearing about some empire that’s, like, conquering things but also rebuilding grop and fighting off other bad guys.”

“Yeah,” Gnarly nodded, “And I gotta say, dudes, after the Dominator chick, you two definitely seem like the better option. ‘Course, I still don’t exactly know you but, eh, you seem cool.”

“Right, yeah,” Awesome nodded, his smile faltering for just a moment, “So, anyway. Hatey, Peepsqueak-” “It’s  _ Peep _ -!” “That girl over there that’s rockin’ the bad ‘tude,” he told them, pointing over at the sea urchin, “That’s The Epicness. And this cool slug over here? They’re Tubular.” Tubular smiled, giving the pair whatever a slug’s equivalent of a peace sign was. “And finally, this multi-armed beach babe right here is-”

“Let me guess,” Hater interrupted, raising an eyebrow, “She’s called Radical or Cool or Totally-?”

“Actually, like, my name is Shimizu,” the octopus told them, giving Hater a sweet smile, “Unlike the rest of these guys, I actually don’t really mind the name my parents gave me.”

“Doesn’t mean you still don’t get a nickname, Shi-Shi~” Awesome told her.

Shimizu gasped, giving the shark a shove that nearly knocked him off his feet before laughing. “You dork! No one’s called me that since sophomore year!” “Well then maybe it’s time to bring it back!” “Like, absolutely NOT, you flarf-narbler!” 

As the rest of the crew laughed about this, Peepers couldn’t help but quietly comment, “At least one person here has a normal name.”

“...My name is Hater and your name is Peepers,” Hater stated, giving his commander a bit of a look.

“...Fair enough, sir.”

“So hey, now that we got the intros out of the way,” Awesome began again once the laughter died down, “How about we get some REAL fun started?! I mean, I’ve been trying to show these two what’s cool about this place all day, so let’s show ‘em what the Aqualla islands are all about!”

Slowly, the faces of his friends began to fall, replaced with looks of curiosity and confusion. Though, they were hardly noticed by the emperor. “I was thinkin’ maybe some surfing, maybe a little shopping - last I heard, they were building a mall or something downtown, right? Those are always cool. And of course we’ve GOTTA throw a party! I can grab some of my stuff from the Skullship and-”

“I knew it. I flarping knew it.”

That was what finally stopped Awesome’s rant. He slowly turned to The Epicness, who currently looked like she was trying to use all four of her eyes to burn holes in the back of his head. “...Uhhh, am I missing something here, or-?”

“I knew you weren’t coming here to help, Awesome,” The Epicness continued, taking a couple steps towards him, “I bet you just came here cause you were bored or whatever! If you were really here to help, you would’ve came a long time ago.”

Sensing that a very personal fight was about to happen, Hater and Peepers quietly took a couple steps back. Awesome however just looked completely lost. “Okay, dude, what are you-” 

“Look AROUND, chum for brains!” she screamed, gesturing to all the damaged and closed buildings across the street from them - all the things that he had simply ignored or brushed off as simple construction issues. “These islands are falling apart! Are you BLIND?! ...No, even that’s not an excuse, since even Tubular can see it.”

“Yeah, man,” Tubular spoke up, “I mean… That’s why I thought you were here. You are royalty and all, so I thought you’d try to do something…”

“That’s what I thought too,” Shimizu added.

“Same,” Gnarly agreed, “Though, honestly dude, I was also just happy to actually see you  _ alive _ . You haven’t exactly written lately. At ALL, really, since you left. And, well, now with that Dominator chick-”

“Okay okay,” Awesome said, clenching his eyes shut for just a moment before forcing a grin back onto his face, “I get it! Like, having… having her come to our planet messed some stuff up, but it’s cool! We can totes rebuild. Hatey and Peeps have some soldiers that can come over and-”

The Epicness grabbed his collar, bringing him down to her level. “You just. Don’t.  _ Get it, _ ” she said, practically spitting venom before letting him go. Though, frankly, Awesome was too shocked to even try to make up an excuse, so the Epicness just continued. 

“We were fine when Dominator came. Was it a rockin’ time? Flarp no! It sucked having to watch trees get burned down and places crumble in seconds, but we were all safe! We were all deep in the water, where not even her giant drill could get to us.”

“Her ice powers didn’t do much either,” Shimizu added, “This place is way too big and warm to totally freeze. ...Though, like, her trying to skewer us with rock and ice spears wasn’t exactly fun…” Awesome shuttered, but managed to keep his cool. 

“She stayed for a few days,” Gnarly continued to explain, “Mostly just drilling into mountains and searching for, tc’ch, whatever she was looking for-”

“Volcanium X,” Peepers explained, “That was her power source, and quite a few beach planets had it. Though, with how little land there is here and Aqualla’s lack of volcanoes, it’s no surprise that she turned up empty-handed.”

“And maybe that’s why she just started destroying stuff,” Tubular commented quietly. 

“...She left after a few days, probably out of boredom,” The Epicness said after a small moment of silence, “Lots of things were wrecked, and there were a few injuries, but there weren’t any deaths. We were fine. What happened with Dominator here, it definitely didn’t flarping help but it was never the main issue.”

“...Then, what is?” Awesome practically whispered, almost afraid to know.

The Epicness stared at him. Two of her eyes were still glaring, but the other two just looked tired. “The issue is… You  _ abandoned _ us, Awesome. You left to go do whatever the grell you wanted out in the Galaxy, and you never came back.”

“I…” Awesome looked back and forth between his friends, all of which were just frowning at him. Disappointed, discouraged… He even looked at his new allies, but even they couldn’t give him an answer. “I, like… I mean, I set up a whole council before I-” He stopped, and scowled. “Okay, let me talk to the council. Whatever they screwed up here, I’ll fix it! I promise!”

“Wow, he really hasn’t been paying attention to what’s been happening here,” Shimizu mumbled, crossing her tentacles across her chest as she looked away.

“Dude, there is no more council,” Gnarly explained, “They were a thing for like, a year or so after you put it together, and then we got a new emperor.”

Awesome’s eyes widened. “ExCUSE me? A _ new _ emperor?! But, But I’m-!”

“Are you really that surprised?” he heard Hater ask. Awesome glared at the skeletal lord, but he was hardly affected by it. “I mean, you weren’t around. You were busy wrecking other planets with your parties and stuff, so of course someone was going to try and take the place over while you weren’t looking!” 

At the very least you had to keep an eye on the planets you ruled, station soldiers or a base there, and make sure to actually be there to fight for it during any possible invasions. Hater himself had learned that lesson the hard way, thanks to a certain evil sandwich. “Power vacuums are never sustainable,” Peepers added, “And once it was made a question whether or not you were returning, it was only a matter of time-”

“But I’m the EMPEROR!” Awesome argued, baring his teeth. But no one bothered to debate him. After all, facts were facts, and the fact that Awesome had been crowned emperor no longer mattered. Groaning, he turned his gaze to the sand under his feet, kicking at it slightly. “...So who’s emperor now.”

“Tc’ch, some dill weed named Zatharie.” “Not like we know much about him, since he hasn’t ever come up here, but-”

“SERIOUSLY?!” Awesome shouted, even more angry at that, “Zath?! They put flarping ZATH in charge?!”

“Wait, you know him?” Peepers asked, looking just as surprised as everyone else.

“Tc’ch, yeah, though I sure as flarp wish I didn’t,” Awesome mumbled before turning back to his friends, “And let me guess, he acts just like my mom did?”

“Oh, like, trust us, he’s WAY worse,” Shimizu told him, “Ever since he took the crown, pretty much all cash flow from below has stopped.”

“Foot traffic too,” Tubular added, “Same with supplies and, well, pretty much anything we had to bring from the ocean to the islands.”

“Oh yeah,” The Epicness scoffed, “Gotta make sure the people that are literally surrounded by all the fish they could eat are still well fed. Flarpin’ snobs.”

Awesome scowled to himself, thinking back… Even as a kid he noticed the divide between Below and Above. Sure, plenty of people would go in-between the two environments, either for a certain food or a change of scenery or some cool event. But depending on where you actually lived (or where you enjoyed being), either the ocean was a home for snobs that wouldn’t know how to have a REAL good time if it bit them on the tailfin, or the islands were just full of punks, lowlives and fools who should’ve just stayed in the water where they belonged.

“...So, yeah, that’s when things started getting bad up here,” Gnarly said, giving a small sigh, “Things started dryin’ up fast. No one wanted to shop up here or eat up here or even just hang out up here - and those who did couldn’t exactly spare the credits. When things needed repaired or replaced, you kinda had to just live with it, but when nothing really improved…”

“It got to the point where hardly anyone could even survive up here, Awesome,” The Epicness told him, clenching her fists, “Whenever someone’s funds completely ran out, they either had to move down below and accept whatever scraps that they could find… or they had to leave Aqualla entirely.” She narrowed her eyes. “That’s what my girlfriend’s family had to eventually do, and they didn’t even own any businesses. But the ones they worked at had to let them go.”

“Same with my family,” Shimizu admitted, “Grod, they loved living up here. Now they’re stuck in like, some dinky little apartment down below near a trench.”

“Dominator coming in and wrecking stuff just made it even worse, especially when no money was offered from the ‘oh so great emperor’ for repairs,” Gnarly added, his tone bitter and low, “Lots of good places and people had to close up shop, man… That shake shop we always went to, my old man’s surf and skate shop, J.J’s sushi joint-”

“Groove Thang,” Tubular stated, and those two words were enough to make the rest of their crew lower their heads, and Awesome shook his head.

“No… No way. You mean, like… Groove Thang is closed? Like,  _ closed _ closed? For good?”

“Yep,” The Epicness nodded, too sad to scowl, “And we can’t even fight back! We just- Cause, they’re just...” She trailed off, as if trying to remember something before shaking it off. “We can’t even fight back. We’re just told to accept all of this grop - and it’s only a matter of time before everything else up here just becomes a pile of abandoned driftwood and bricks.”

And  _ that _ , was the final straw. “Okay,” Awesome said, punching his palm and cracking his knuckles, “I don’t know about you guys, but I’d say I’m way overdue for a little chat with Zath.” No one said anything, not willing to hope just yet and still looking pretty doubtful. “I know… I know I screwed up majorly, and I can’t make it right overnight,” he told them, “but it’s like I said, guys. I am  _ going  _ to fix all this. I promise.”

“...Hmph, you’d better, chumbreath,” The Epicness said simply.

With that, he turned around and began walking away. “Hatey, Peeps, come on,” he said as he passed them, “Let’s move out.”

“Wait, we’re coming too?” Hater asked.

“Duh. We’re allies, bro, aren’t we?” Awesome shot back, “If you want Aqualla to be part of the Hater Empire, then you should be there when I take it back. And Peeps, you still want to see what we’ve got here that you can use, right?”

That was enough to once again peak the Commander’s interest - and even if it hadn’t, he still had a feeling this confrontation with this Zatharie guy, whoever he was to Awesome, wouldn’t go as smoothly as he thought it would be. So, Peepers began to follow the shark-man, with his lord right behind him.

“Tc’ch, besides,” Awesome mumbled, “If there’s one thing I learned from being a private, it’s that it’s always good to have back up…”

()()()()()()()()() 

“...So, Hatey, bro. Can I be real with you for a sec?”

Already in the middle of putting on his red diving suit that Peepers had packed for him, Hater gave him a curious look. “Uhhh… Sure?”

“Cool,” Awesome nodded, “So, I know you don’t like to be told what to do but, could you just try to watch yourself while we’re down here? Like, just… REALLY watch yourself and make sure you don’t use your powers. Cause we’re going to be, you know, underwater and-”

Hater scoffed. “Come on,” he told him as he pulled up on the frustrating rubber garment, “I know how to control my powers, Awesome! And I’m not stupid! I know water and electricity don’t mix!”

“I’m not calling you stupid!” Awesome insisted, “I’m just sayin’, if you end up getting pissed or whatever and start threatening to zap people, you could kinda sorta kill most of the people on my planet, and I’m just trying to make sure that  _ doesn’t _ happen so-” “It’s not going to happen!” “But-!”

“Awesome, I can assure you that you have nothing to worry about.” The two looked towards Peepers, who already had his black diving suit on. “Just as Lord Hater said, he has perfect control of his powers,” he told them, causing Hater to give Awesome a smug ‘told you so!’ smile. “However, just as an extra precaution, I did make sure to triple seal Hater’s suit, guaranteeing that no electricity could be released or even conducted through it. Better to be safe than sorry, right Sir?”

“Hmph, I guess,” Hater shrugged, his focus back on the annoying suit. It only took him a couple more minutes to finish getting dressed, and once their diving helmets were on and their oxygen tanks were pumping, Awesome took the lead and stepped into the deep purple waters... 

He could already feel his gills fanning out before his neck even got wet, and there was no hesitation as he slipped under the surface. Much like the Rock, it was a feeling too familiar to ever forget. Cool but not freezing, surrounding but not suffocating. He took a deep breath through his nostrils, and exhaled through his gills, releasing tiny bubbles that existed for only a moment. 

Glancing back at his allies, he explained, “The main reef is a bit of a ways from here, but it’s a pretty easy swim.” He then allowed himself a small smirk. “Make sure you guys can keep up.” With that, he rushed forward, arms at his side while his strong legs kicked in sync, sending him almost flying through the water.

“Hey!” Hater shouted, growling as he began swimming after him, with Peepers following suit, shaking his head. Even in a serious situation, the obnoxious emperor just HAD to fool around.

Thankfully, no races were started, nor were there any fights. The ocean seemed to relax all of their nerves, and as they swam deeper, content turned to curiosity. “Is that it?” Peepers asked, squinting at a very bright reef in the distance.

“Yep, that’s the capital,” Awesome nodded, “Though, pretty much all of the reefs down here are like this one. The only thing that makes this one special is that it’s where the royal family lives.”

The Commander hummed. “Putting something as major as the home of your planet’s ruler in one section of the planet when there are two major areas where citizens live… No wonder there’s an air of favoritism here.”

“Tc’ch, tell me about it,” Awesome mumbled, crossing his arms, “But, that’s what happens when you have a bunch of tradition-obsessed snobs running the show.” A show he was supposed to be running… A show he  _ should _ have ran instead of leaving.

“Uhh, guys?” Hater spoke up, getting their attention, “There are glowing things following us.” He pointed behind them at three small, bright multi-colored lights that were coming towards them, and fast.

Peepers quickly swam to his lord’s side, willing to help defend him if Hater needed it, but Awesome just chuckled. “No worries, Hatey, the jellies are harmless!”

Hater raised an eyebrow. “The… jellies?” Sure enough, as the lights came closer, they could see that they were indeed jellyfish. Though, they were a lot smaller than the kind that would occasionally pass by the Skullship as they migrated through space. These jellyfish were a lot more round, with short and very curly tentacles that almost looked like confetti ribbons. But the most unique thing about them was how they shifted between colors, almost like holiday string-lights.

“Oh.” Slowly, Hater stretched out a hand - and almost instantly, the jellies began nuzzling it. “H-Hey, heh.” He smiled at them, giving them small pats. 

“Aw, Hatey made some friends,” Awesome smirked, “Good thing jellies aren’t that powerful.” Their electric stings were more like small static shocks. A tiny bit painful, but ultimately harmless. 

“Not that it’d matter,” Peepers retorted, “I doubt even the strongest of jellyfish stings would mean much to someone with electrical magic. Hmm, perhaps they can still sense his personal electric current through the suit. It would certainly explain the attraction.”

As if to prove this, all the jellies turned a bright green as they began nuzzling Hater’s diving helmet, making him giggle again. “Well I think they’re cool!” he said as he watched them swim around his head, “Even if they are a bit shrimpy.”

Needless to say, Hater wasn’t bothered at all then when the jellies decided to follow him as they continued on towards the capital. Though, by the time they reached it, both Hater and Peepers were barely paying attention to the jellies at all, unable to look away from the spectacle of the grand coral reef city.

It was a far cry from the boardwalk town above, with many structures being tall with multiple floors. Many of the buildings were made out of pastel-painted stone or pure white marble that seemed to shine like pearls, making them look both ancient and extravagant at the same time. Many roofs were painted to look gold while their walls and wavy structures were intertwined with brightly colored coral that as big as a house, making them look all the more unique and impressive. Anemones, patches of seaweed and plenty of underwater flowers added color, as well as beauty. 

Along with looking more extravagant, the reef was also much busier than the surface. There were many creatures swimming around - dolphins, sharks and whales, sea horses, swordfish, squid, eels and many more - almost all of them dressed to the nines with collared shirts, fancy looking robes and dresses made of the best underwater silk. They bustled from shop to shop, restaurant to cafe, beautiful home to high-class establishment, and all while looking as carefree as the seas themselves.

“Whoaaaa…” That was all they could say.

“...Tc’ch,” Awesome scoffed, barely giving all of it a second glance, “Come on, guys. We’ve got a meeting to get to, remember?”

“Wait, so THIS was where you were born?” Peepers asked, his eye still looking around widely as they continued on. Even the richest and most advanced cities they had conquered and pillaged didn’t look as nice as this one! And the coral, it was strong enough to hold up entire buildings! He could only imagine the strength of any military bases that were built with it. He would need to collect some samples to know for sure and- OOH! A history museum all about Aquallian history! That could be interesting! And was that a concert hall?! 

“Yep,” Awesome replied simply, not even acknowledging Peepers’ excitement as he continued swimming forward.

“And… And this is what people leave to go live on the surface all the time?!” Hater asked, unable to believe it, “When they could be here with all the new and super fancy and rich stuff instead? But-?”

Awesome stopped at that, turning to give him a sharp glare that actually made the skeleton flinch a bit and Peepers finally stop looking around. “Yeah, we do. You got a problem with that?”

“Uh, no,” Hater said before giving him a small scowl of his own, “But do YOU have a problem?”

The shark gave him a flat look. “Seriously, man? You asking me if I have beef with the place full of stuck-up royals that are trying to bankrupt the home of my friends?”

Oooh… “Uh, right, that’s still really bad,” Hater nodded, both he and Peepers feeling a bit guilty now. Just cause it looked nice didn’t mean it WAS nice. But, even so- “Why did people leave the reefs in the first place?”

Awesome shrugged, a bit calmer now. “I’m sure everyone’s got their own reason. Some just like the environment up top better, with how warm and sunny it is. There are things they could do up there that they can’t do down here. Different plants and animals, different lifestyles, more space and freedom, not to mention plenty of fresh air. And others… Well, we just like the culture and attitudes better on the islands.” He lowered his eyes a bit. “Sometimes the small things can make a big difference, you know?”

He let himself look around at the reef. Yes, it was extravagant and beautiful, he could admit that. He also knew that being rich and having the coolest clothes with plenty of bank to spare was also really sweet… And yet, as he stared at the people and the society from his earliest years, all he could see was a bunch of rules and traditions and standards that he just  _ couldn’t stand!  _

How to act, how to stand and swim, how to talk and all the proper grammar that had to be used, all the things that he could and couldn’t do because ‘that wasn’t how things worked’, the types of parties you could throw, the kind of friends you had to have -  _ you can’t dance that way at a gala, it’s not proper for males to wear make-up, our people belong in the water where they were born and not on some beach, a prince doesn’t dress and act like a  _ **_fool!_ **

Awesome gritted his teeth, clenching his fists. If he hadn't remembered why he left before, he certainly did now. “Um, Awesome?”

Slowly, he turned around. “We should, uh, get going, right?” Hater asked, “Find this Zath guy or whoever he is and kick his butt?”

“No time like the present,” Peepers added, looking completely focused now, “You said that your former home was just up ahead, right?”

The shark’s face softened a bit “...Yeah,” Awesome nodded, “Come on, you’ll know the castle when you see it.”

And indeed they did. After just a few more minutes of swimming, they could see a tower pointing up above the reef’s skyline. Soon enough, they found the castle - tall and huge with marble pillars, coral walls of every color, and brass towers that were painted gold. 

Awesome wasted no time bursting through the double doors, swimming inside. “...Huh, can’t believe he hasn’t redecorated the whole place,” he mumbled as he looked around. Same old fancy structures, same old ancient and lame decor...

“Perhaps he wanted to keep the historic value of the castle untouched?” Peepers suggested.

“Hmph,” Hater said as he glanced around at all the gold and marble - even he was starting to feel like this was a bit much now - “Or maybe he just took all the money that was supposed to go to the islands and decided to build his own castle.”

“Tc’ch, knowing Zath, I could see him doing that.” As the trio turned a corner, they slowed at a large painting. Sitting in a gold frame with small pearls and shells adorning it, there sat an image of a short, stern looking orca whale empress. Beside her was a grey colored shark-man, dressed in a well-pressed suit and giving a small smile, looking a bit younger than the shark they had ran into on Bayroceon 8. And finally, in the empress’ arms sat a baby shark, only looking a couple days old and wrapped in a blue blanket.

“Empress Odellia,” Peepers said, quietly reading from the frame’s inscription, “the empress’ consort, Makoto, and their child, Prince Herschel…”

“So, that’s you?” Hater asked, “And your family?”

“Yep,” Awesome nodded, not sounding happy, but not necessarily sounding sad or resentful either, “That’s us.”

Suddenly, they heard a pair of doors slam open, followed by the rushing of water as two figures - a hammerhead and a swordfish dressed in armor - swam towards them. “Halt, intruders!” one of them yelled, their weapons already raised, “State your business and- A-And… Your highness?”

“Uh, duh,” Awesome said, crossing his arms and ignoring the guards’ shocked faces, “Okay dudes, I know I’ve been gone for a while, but I’m still in charge, got it? Now, you’re already calling me ‘your highness’ so you got a good start - though for future reference I’d prefer ‘your awesomness’ or ‘your coolness’, kay? Now, do yourselves a favor and tell me-” He narrowed his eyes. “Where’s Zath?”

“,..” The two guards exchanged a look. “Well, um, E-Emperor Zatharie is in the throne room-” the hammerhead began to say.

“You mean MY throne room.”

“Well, erm-” “T-The Emperor is not seeing anyone right now,” the swordfish explained, “but if you’d like to wait I am sure that-”

“Nah, not gonna happen,” Awesome told them, already moving forward. But despite still looking unsure, the guards tried to block him from going any further.

“Your highness, please!” “Prince Herschel, I’m sure we can reach a comp-” Both of the guards froze, seeing Awesome’s face change. Clearly that was the wrong thing to say.

“Oh no. No way! Flarp that! I did not go through four whole years of etiquette lessons and a boring as grop crowning ceremony to still be called  _ prince! _ ” With that, Awesome easily shoved the two guards out of the way before swimming forward. Of course, the two guards protested and tried to fight back somewhat, but another couple of hard shoves and a  _ very _ menacing glare from their returning emperor’s new entourage kept them down. “And b-t-dubs,” he shouted over his shoulder, “the name is AWESOME!”

This was HIS kingdom, and nothing was going to stop him from taking it back!

With no other obstacles in the way, it only took them seconds for them to reach the large doors of the throne room. With a snarl, Awesome kicked the door open and moved inside, with Hater and Peepers still right by his side. “YO!” he yelled, “Zath!”

Several feet across from them and surrounded by beautiful coral that seemed to almost shimmer thanks to the light coming from the open ceiling above it, sat the large royal throne. And lounging in that throne was another shark, specifically a tiger-shark. 

His skin was a mix of light green and olive green, with dark green stripes going up his snout and down his dorsal fin. Sitting on his flowing blonde hair was a crown that looked identical to Awesome’s - which only made the other emperor's scowl deepen. His dark blue jacket with gold shoulder pads and light blue dress-pants only added to his royal look, and as he looked up from the shell-shaped flip-phone that he was texting on, he simply smiled back at Awesome. 

“Well well,” he said, sitting up in his seat now, “Long time no see,  _ cousin _ .”

**TO BE CONTINUED!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, keeping with the anime VA themeing with Awesome and his relatives, I imagined Zath having the voice of Eric Stuart (specifically, his Seto Kaiba voice from Yu-Gi-Oh - which Sam Riegel also worked on as both the original voice of Tristan Taylor for like ten episodes and Rex Raptor. Just a fun fact ^v^) Also, I included another small illustration for this chapter! Anyway, enjoy! ^v^

“...Wait, did he just say COUSIN?!” Hater exclaimed.

“Huh,” Peepers mumbled, clearly not as surprised, “Could’ve seen that coming.”

Though, both of their reactions were ignored by the two royal sharks, who just kept staring each other down. Awesome looking furious, and Zatharie looking completely amused. While they may have been related, they certainly didn’t look it - and it wasn’t just because of their different colors and markings.

Their postures and tones, the way they held and presented themselves, how Zath still seemed to have an air of regality around him while Awesome was about as far from ‘sophisticated’ as you could get. it was all completely different! And while Awesome may have been appearing confident and determined in that moment, Peepers could tell just by how he looked down at the three of them from his throne, that not only did Zatharie think of himself as strong, but also _untouchable._

“It really has been a while, hasn’t it, Guppy?” Zatharie asked, finishing up his text before putting his shellphone away.

“That’s Emperor Awesome to you, Zath.”

“Oh, of _course_. Huh, funny. I thought you left home for good,” Zath told him, raising an eyebrow, “What, have you finally decided to grow up, Guppy?”

Awesome scoffed at his cousin’s old nickname for him. “Told you before, cus, I’m no guppy.” (Not anymore, at least. Being sort of short as an adult was one thing, but being a short kid reaaaally sucked…) “And it doesn’t matter how long I’ve been gone. I’m still first in line, I’m still the emperor, and that’s still MY throne! So why don’t you just get up and get lost before I _make_ you get lost.”

But Zath just chuckled at the threat. “Same old Guppy, alright… And what’s this? Your new entourage?” Hater glared at him while Peepers straightened himself, looking as professional and stern as ever. “Eh, a bit of an upgrade from those swamp-treaders you were always running off to see.”

Despite the insult, he knew he had to remain chill. Crossing his arms, Awesome leaned to one side. “Yeah, you could say that,” he replied coolly, “Nothin’ wrong with a little support.” Glaring again, he added, “But don’t think they’re anything more than that. This is still between you and me, _bro_ , and like I said, you’re in my seat.”

“Oh? Am I now?” Standing up and tossing his hair slightly, he strolled over to the trio - allowing Hater and Peepers to see just how much bigger Zath was compared to Awesome. He was a good head taller than his cousin (and he wasn’t even wearing heels). While he did look a lot more kingly, there was still plenty of muscle hidden under his well-pressed coat - not to mention the sharp teeth he flashed as he smirked at all of them - indicating that he still knew how to fight. “Silly me. So sorry about that, Guppy.”

Awesome narrowed his eyes, not flinching away from his cousin’s stoney gaze. “Oh, I get it. Look man, troll me all you’d like with old nicknames and ‘acting all high and mighty’ and grop like that, but that doesn’t change a thing. I’m-”

“I never said you weren’t still first in line, Herschel,” Zath interrupted, meeting his gaze, “But there’s more to being emperor than simply being born earlier to a certain family member.” His smirk deepened. “Speaking of which, I haven’t heard a single word of objection from Aunt Odellia, and before they dissolved, that little counsel you rushed together was in full support of me taking the crown as well. So, I’d say I have a pretty good amount of support. Certainly a lot more than _you,_ don’t you think?”

Awesome winced. “Ugh…” Seriously?! He knew fully well that he and his mother didn’t see eye-to-eye on… really, anything. But still, letting his cousin just take over without even putting up a fight?! That was still a low blow. “Well, the peeps up top sure as flarp don’t support you!” he argued. “Not when you’re pretty much pushing them into bankruptcy and forcin’ them to leave their homes!

Finally dropping his smug smile, Zath rolled his eyes. “As if those surface skimmers really matter!”

“They DO matter!” Awesome shouted, giving him a shove, “And a REAL emperor would know that!”

Zath took a couple steps back… and then simply dusted off his jacket. “They matter, huh? That’s what you think, cousin?” he asked, “Or at least, what you think _now?_ ”

Awesome sneered at him. “And just what is THAT supposed to mean, huh?”

“I’m just saying, you certainly didn’t think the islanders mattered when you left them,” Zath retorted. He stepped forward again, staring down at the former emperor. “How long were you on the throne before you ran off? Three months? Two? A few weeks? Hmph, whatever it was, it was hardly enough time to develop any sort of agenda.”

It, it doesn’t- Just shut up!” Awesome snapped, clenching his fists tightly, “It doesn’t matter! I’m still going to fix things now, and I’m not gonna let a stuck-up flab-drasser like you stop me!”

Zath smirked, moving in even closer now. “And just what makes you think you even have a chance of taking the crown back, hm? Cause you’re ‘awesome’?” He chuckled, giving a toothy grin now. “Please! It was already too hard for you to be emperor before! Everyone on this planet already knows how much of an, as you would probably put it, ‘epic failure’ you were as a ruler!”

“Oh yeah, well-!” “Grop, you could barely even keep a spot on the galactic villain leaderboard, could you?”

Awesome’s eyes widened. “I… Wait, how-? How do you even know about that?”

Zath didn’t answer right away, instead choosing to begin circling his cousin. Of course, Awesome tried his hardest to make it seem like this wasn’t bothering him but, well… When you felt surrounded, it was hard to not show at least a little intimidation.

Peepers narrowed his eye. He knew exactly what Zatharie was doing… But it wasn’t as if he and Hater could step in, not yet at least. That would only make Awesome look even weaker. He could only watch and wait, and hope that Awesome didn’t fall into his cousin’s trap.

“Yeah, most Aquallians don’t pay much attention to the rest of the Galaxy unless there’s something _really_ big happening. I mean, why would we? Aqualla is a beautiful utopia! ...Well, most of it is, though that’ll change soon enough.”

“Tc’ch, not if I can help it!” Awesome retorted, “They’re Aquallians too, you know! You can’t just screw them over ‘cause of the choices they make or the things they want out of life!”

“If they were true Aquallians then they would have stayed in the water where they belong!” Zath argued, mimicking the words Awesome had heard from his own mother. To people like them, it didn’t matter what other people wanted, or why they enjoyed the surface, it was still ‘wrong’ and ‘disgraceful’ all the same.

_‘Aquallians should live and die in the nurturing waters they were born in… That’s the way it should be!’_

“Ugh!” Awesome quickly shook the voice away. Come on, he had to focus!

As for Zath, he just kept slowly circling his cousin, swimming so gracefully that his feet barely touched the floor. “If they wanted to live actually successful lives then they should have stayed. Just like _you_ should have stayed.” He then gave a small chuckle. “...Though, if your time as an emperor would have ended up being just as successful as your attempt at ‘expanding the empire’, then maybe you were just saving us all from wasting our time.”

Awesome growled. That smug little-! “Whatever, I had plenty of wins!”

“Certainly not recently,” Zath retorted before continuing, “Unlike you, I never had a desire to leave our home. BUT, knowing my little guppy cousin was out there, well, I had to check up on you occasionally.” He glanced up. “And more often than not, I was hearing about how you were being defeated by the jellyfish magnet over there, usually in just a couple electrified punches.”

“Hey, who you callin’ a magnet?” Hater asked, shooting him a glare while the jellyfish around him turned various shades of red. However, the tiger-shark emperor could care less about his annoyance at the comment.

“You may have destroyed a few planets - which, by the way, not the best way to ‘expand’, just so you know - thrown a few amusing parties, impressed a few followers,” Zath continued, “But in terms of actually doing your JOB and being an actual emperor? Let’s face it, you were a total _failure._ All play and no work, nothing but hype, and no real skill whatsoever.”

Awesome wanted to argue, wanted to prove him wrong and tell him that he didn’t know what he was talking about! ...But he knew he didn’t have much of a case. He _did_ leave Aqualla, not for his planet but for himself. And unfortunately, while he did have plenty of good times and even a few wins while he was away, he didn’t have much to show for his efforts in the end. No planets, no stolen treasures or weapons of power. Grop, he didn’t even have most of his fist fighters anymore!

And his cousin knew this. Zath slowed his stride even more, his smirk turning back into a toothy grin. He had Awesome just where he wanted - and now it was time for the killing blow.

“...Though, if I’m being really honest, Guppy, even all of that couldn’t compare to your spectacular failure with that - Oh, what was her name again? Lord Dominator?”

Awesome completely froze. For a moment, the water around him felt ice cold… and then it almost felt boiling hot.

“Oh no,” Peepers mumbled. No… He couldn’t bring up that. Anything but that!

“H-Hey, don’t-! You can’t just, just start talking like that!” Hater shouted, attempting to help, “That’s not even fair! Pretty much EVERY villain was captured by Dominator! And I doubt you could’ve done any better!”

Zath glanced up, giving the skeleton another flat look. “I would’ve been smart enough to not even _try_ to face her. But I think it’s safe to say that Herschel here isn’t the smart one in the family.”

Awesome could feel himself shaking now, his voice caught in his throat as his skin began to feel hot. “You were one of the first people captured by her, right?” Zath asked, standing in front of his cousin once more. Awesome didn’t answer, he didn’t need to.

“That’s enough!” they heard Peepers shout. Awesome was sure the Commander was getting ready to draw some sort of weapon, but it hardly mattered.

“Heh, knowing you, you probably tried to charm her into working with you, right? Maybe show off some of your ‘sweet moves’? What were you planning exactly? Just to take her to a rave and sweep her off her feet?”

By this point, Awesome’s gaze was on the sandy floor, fists clenched so tightly that he was sure he was breaking skin. “...Shut up…” he managed to say.

“Aww, did I hit a nerve, Guppy?” Zath grinned, “You’re right, I shouldn’t be making fun of such a stupid mistake, especially when it’s already cost you everything else you care about. Ooh, and I’m sure all that lava wasn’t too pleasant either-”

“I SAID **SHUT UP!”**

With that, Awesome pounced, blindly throwing punches as he tried to focus on the present (and on punching Zath right in his stupid snout). This worked somewhat, since Zath was a pretty big target, allowing Awesome to actually land a couple hits. ...However, he also had speed, as well as skills. Perhaps Zath had decided to do just a bit more taunting before ACTUALLY fighting, for the rest of Awesome’s attacks were either dodged or easily blocked, which just made him all the more frustrated.

Peepers was shouting something in the background, him and Hater too, though he had no idea what they were saying. He could hardly even hear them over the rushing lava and cruel laughter already in his ears. So, he just kept swinging, feeling like it was the only thing he _could_ do.

Unfortunately, it was only a matter of time before Zatharie began throwing some punches of his own. He started out small though, just a couple chest and face shots, enough to show his cousin that he wasn’t just staying on the defensive. His added strength was also enough to knock Awesome back a bit, but this hardly mattered. Awesome was just as determined as he was angry. It didn’t matter if he was outmatched, he had to fight! He had to do _something-!_

A flash of red.

Burning heat.

Thrown into a cell.

Cruel laughter - now from both a certain villainous AND his cousin.

Restrained. _Trapped._ **_Humiliated! DEFEATED!_ **

“GRAAAAH!” Awesome screamed, tightly clenching his eyes shut as he rushed forward, fighting ferociously now. Right hook, left hook, grapple, kick, pounce! He didn’t aim, he didn’t think, he just had to move! To fight!

Over and over again he tried this, and each time it became harder and harder to land an attack. Zath just kept blocking and dodging, barely breaking a sweat. Awesome snarled, throwing one last punch before getting easily knocked aside. And, once he saw his cousin stumble over his feet slightly, Zath knew it was time to finish this little scuffle.

Giving Awesome no time to try and regain his balance, the new emperor showed no mercy. One, two, THREE well-aimed punches to the face, followed by a sharp kick to the gut that sent him flying into a rough, coral wall.

“AWESOME!” Hater gasped while Peepers just winced as the fighter he had personally trained crumpled to the floor with a groan. Still shaking, Awesome managed to look up. His mind screened at him to get back up, but his aching and burning body stayed put.

“Hmph.” Smirk never faltering, Zath strolled over to him. “Well, that settles that then. Don’t worry though, I’ll make sure Aqualla stays as great as ever, and I’ll even say that you’re free to visit the islands all you want while they’re still there. I just wouldn’t wait too long.”

“Y-You…” Awesome tried to argue, but his thoughts shut him up before he could even say a word. _Pathetic. A failure. Weak. Loser-!_ A hand gripped his dorsal fin, making him gasp as his attention was dragged back to reality.

“Face it, ‘cus’...” He let go of Awesome’s fin, and swiftly knocked his crown off his head, causing the shark to flinch as it landed on the sand, “You’re not fit to rule **anything** ,” Crossing his arms and still standing over him, the new emperor then said, “So instead of embarrassing yourself any further, why don’t you just… swim along, hmm?”

Awesome stared at him for just a moment longer before moving. Picking himself off the floor and ignoring any and all pain he felt, he swam past Zath and up towards the open ceiling as fast as he could, all without a single word.

And, when he heard Hater and Peepers yelling after him, he just swam faster.

()()()()()()()()()()()()

“-Again, my emperor, I can’t even begin to say how sorry we are.”

“We can assure you, it won’t happen again.”

“Well, don’t be too sorry, gentlemen.” Zath stopped, glancing over his shoulder to look at the two apologetic guards. “As it were, I was able to finish up some unfinished business with my cousin. Nothing too difficult, I can assure you.”

The two guards were able to relax for just a moment. However, when they saw their emperor’s hand drift towards his belt, near a hidden holster where just the tip of a golden handle could be seen, they tensed up once again.

“Still, while I can see why the judgement call of whether or not to attack another member of the royal family was a bit confusing, you two _did_ fail your jobs as guards. We can’t exactly have people swimming into this castle whenever they please, no matter who they are.” Zath narrowed his eyes, his fingers just barely touching the handle now. “I’d suggest you make this known to the rest of your men. I won’t tolerate anymore breaches of security in my home, and I won’t accept anymore failures from either of you. Understood?”

The hammerhead and swordfish quickly saluted. “Yes Sir!” they replied, shouting like their lives depended on it (and honestly, they probably did).

Zatharie nodded in approval. “Very good. You’re dismissed, now get back to work.” The two guards quickly swam off, and Zath continued making his way down the hall to one of the castle’s many sitting rooms. Though, this one was admittedly a bit more ‘casual’ than the others.

Entering the large parlor, Zath was pleased to see four other young men already there. “On time, for once,” he mumbled as he shut the door behind him. On the large plush couch sat a dolphin and an eel, lounging comfortably as they went through their daily mountain of fanmail from their underwater fans. Over by one of the vanities was a whale shark who was trying to style a curly brown wig as he spoke to the narwhal who was standing next to him, reading a magazine.

“-and I’m telling you, Nick, he’s never going to go for it,” the narwhal told his bandmate, turning a page, “Everyone here knows who the star is, so just drop it already.”

“I just don’t see why I can’t have a solo every once in a while, and not just an opening verse,” Nick argued, giving a huff as he curled another section of fake hair, “I mean, it wouldn’t even have to be that long!”

“Well, perhaps if tonight’s show goes well,” Zath began to say, immediately getting everyone’s attentions, “And a certain someone - VANCE - doesn’t come in late _again_ -” Everyone turned to look at the dolphin, who currently had his snout buried deep into a letter. “-we can discuss the possibility.”

Nick smiled a bit. “Heh, great, thanks Zath.”

“Of course,” Zath smiled back, “Now, gentlemen, rest assured that we ARE still performing tonight, as usual. However, there was a bit of an incident earlier. Nothing too major, however I would still like to take a bit of extra precaution.” A great emperor should always be prepared to use strategy and outsmart potential enemies, after all. That was how he made it this far. “So, CJ, did you get my message.”

The eel took out his shellphone. “Yeah?”

“Good, take that to our stage crew and make sure everything is set up and tested properly.”

CJ sighed slightly, but nodded. “Alright, got it… I still don’t get why I have to always be the one who helps the stage crew set up though while everyone else gets extra time to perfect their outfits and warm up.”

“Cause you’re the smart one, remember?” Vance spoke up.

“...Wait, I thought you were the smart one?” CJ said, raising an eyebrow.

The dolphin shook his head. “No, I’m the cute one,” Vance chirped, flashing a grin.

“Huh, but I thought Nick was supposed to be the cute one, and then Zath was handsome, and Johnny-”

“Actually, if you ask me, we’re all pretty much the handsome one,” the narwhal spoke up, smirking at them all, “Hmm, though I guess I could also be the cool one-”

“ _Gentleman,_ ” Zath said, this time a bit more harshly, “Let our fanbase decide what we are, we have more important things to do. So.” He clapped his hands once, and the rest of the group stood up and swam over to him. “A quick vocal warm-up, and then we’ll all start preparing for tonight. And CJ, you had better not screw anything up. Our kind may be rare but you can still be replaced.”

Wincing slightly, the eel nodded. “Got it, Zatharie.”

“Good.” Clearing his throat, the tiger-shark then took in a deep breath through his gills, paused, and then let out a long note at about mid-range. _“Ahhhhhh~”_

One by one, each of them joined in, starting at a different pitch yet still remaining on key to match the other members of their little group. _“Ahhhhhh~” “Ahhhhhh~!” “AHHHHH~!”_

Then, at Zath’s cue, they began to harmonize, their voices smooth and strong as they went up and down. The boys even started swaying a bit to the music, unable to help themselves. They’d have to do it on stage anyway, so why not practice a bit?

After a couple minutes, Zath dropped out of the harmony, satisfied with their sound. One by one, their song became quieter and quieter, until there was no one left to sing it. “Very good. Just make sure to keep your voices warm before we go on. And we’re going with purple tonight, understand?”

The group nodded. “Yes Sir.” “Right.” “Got it, Zath.”

Just then, there was a knock at the door. A seahorse maid poked her head through. “Gentlemen?” She held up a plate of mochi balls.

“...” Slowly, everyone turned to glare at Vance, who just gave another toothy grin. “Hey, what?” the dolphin asked, “I needed a snack, and we were singing anyway, so-”

“See, this is why you’re not the smart one,” Zath stated, crossing his arms. Though, he supposed he couldn’t really blame Vance or the rest of his group. Most of their kind failed to grasp the power of their abilities, never truly using them to their fullest potential.

Good thing he was around to lead them.

()()()()()()()()()()

“Sir! Have you found him yet?” Peepers shouted as he swam over to his clearly frustrated lord.

“Ugh, no!” Hater yelled back at him, “This is impossible! We’ve been searching for hours and this place is HUGE!”

“Actually, Sir, it’s only been about an hour and a half,” Peepers corrected, “Though, that still doesn’t make this situation any less frustrating…” Once they had gotten out of the Capital, figuring that Awesome wouldn’t have any interest in hiding in a place he seemed to loath so much, everything else just seemed to look the same! Nothing but water, sand, seaweed, rocks and small bit of coral!

The Commander groaned, wishing he could rub his temples. This was beginning to feel like a hedge maze. ...No, worse than a maze. At least with a maze there was still an actual exit, and he could use mathematics and strategy to try and figure it out. But this was just unending ocean, Awesome could’ve been anywhere!

A couple stray jellyfish nuzzled against Hater’s helmet as they began to swim around him once more, their colors changing from green to blue. “Hmph…” He gave them light pets. “Even these guys can’t find him, and they know this ocean better than we do.”

“Ugh…” Glancing over his shoulder, Peepers looked at his air tank’s gage. “If we don’t find him soon, we’re going to have to surface and try to find him again later.”

Hater crossed his arms, looking away. “...Maybe he doesn’t want to be found…” Failure really sucked, after all, as did getting completely curb-stomped by someone you were sure that you could beat...

“...You may be right, Sir,” Peepers mumbled. After a moment though, he clenched his fists. “However, while Awesome may feel like quitting, I’m certainly no quitter.” That was what all this was about. Just making sure all those hours of training and comforting and skill-teaching weren’t all for naught. That was what Peepers was worried about, of course. Just his time being wasted. Not the shark-man himself. Of course not. Now that would be ridiculous. “...Besides, no soldier goes AWOL on my watch. Not in my army.”

“Yeah…” Just then, Hater looked up, catching a glimpse at a small, pink light flashing in the distance. He grinned as the other jellies buzzed and hummed happily. “Oh! Hey! I think Jim may have found something!”

“...Jim, Sir?” Peepers asked, giving Hater a flat look.

“Yeah? What? Do you think Jon’s a better name for that one?” Hater asked, "Hmm, or maybe Craig..."

His commander just sighed. “Nevermind, Sir. Come on then, let’s go see what it-” “He.” “HE found,” he told him as he began swimming towards the light.

As Hater and Peepers got closer, the jellyfish started swimming forward again, leading them along as it continued flashing glowing as bright as it could. It took several minutes for them to arrive at a place that, while certainly not a city or even a town, wasn’t just open water either. Huge rocks sat in the sand, providing plenty of cover for smaller fish while the long seaweed that grew there, looking like upside-down vines, added to the shadows while also giving the area a bit of color.

“Seems like a pretty good hiding spot,” Hater commented as he tried to get passed the thick plants without getting too tangled. Swimming just a bit ahead of him and keeping pace with Jim, Peepers began looking around. There were good hiding spots here, but still no Awesome, and they were running out of time…

“Hmph, knowing our luck this thing just led us on some wild space-goose chase!” Peepers huffed, “And I’m pretty sure that jellyfish don’t even have brains in the first place. Just a bunch of squishy nerves and muscle that barely connect. So how can something like that track anything?! It can’t-”

Looking ahead, Peepers blinked when he saw that there was no light there. He looked around, ignoring his lord’s loud growls and cursing, but still no light. “...But apparently it CAN just disappear! Where did it- EEP!” A small zap on his shoulder made him turn around, bringing him face to face with the buzzing jellyfish, now a deep purple. “...Oh. Um-” he laughed sheepishly, “There you- OW!”

The jellyfish zapped him once more on the arm before swimming around him and towards a pair of large rocks that sat beside each other, overlapping. It then hovered next to the rocks, waiting for the two of them to catch up.

“Hmph,” Hater smirked as he tossed the last bit of shredded seaweed off his suit, “Told you Jim and the other jellies could help!” The other jellies around him buzzed in agreement, turning yellow and orange, and Peepers sighed.

“Yes Sir...” With that settled, the pair swam over to the rocks, following Jim to the top of them, where they had a perfect view of their missing private.

The spot was… bright, strangely enough. There weren’t many shadows, even with all the sunlight reflecting off the clear water. There was actually a small coral reef there, though all of the plants within it were long dead while the coral was in the process of dying, most of it being either completely white with the other colors being so light and pastel that it was nearly white. In a way, it was hauntingly beautiful. Definitely peaceful, but the openness of the spot also made it feel isolating (and perhaps that was the point).

And, in the center of it all was a flat stone, providing a nice beaching spot for Awesome.

Maybe he didn’t realize that they were there, or maybe he just didn’t care. Either way, Awesome didn’t move. The crownless shark just continued to stare up at the watery surface above where the sun shone brightly.

Wordlessly, Hater and Peepers swam over to him, taking a seat on the sand and a stable-looking piece of dead coral respectively. As for the jellies, they resigned to slowly floating around the reef, a silent audience for whatever happened next.

“...Well, first off,” Peepers began to say, “I don’t know whose strategies you were implementing, because I know I sure didn’t teach you how to fight like that.”

“...So what? You come all this way to tell me I suck too?” Awesome asked quietly. He still didn’t look at either of them, but he wasn’t completely ignoring them so, the Commander considered that to be a good sign.

“Hmph, no,” Hater told him, leaning back a bit, “Pretty sure you already know that. After a fight like that, who wouldn’t?”

“Then why _are_ you guys here?” His tone was flat, as if it didn’t matter what the answer was.

But, Peepers answered anyway. “That’s simple enough. To bring you back,” he said, not even having to think about it.

Awesome scowled a bit. “And why would you want to do that? I sure as grop don’t see a reason to.”

Neither one of them said anything. For a few moments, the only sound around them was the slow moving waves and the light humming of the jellies. Until finally, the silence was broken.

“...You said you wanted to be in my army to be stronger,” Hater started to say, “Well, laying on your butt after getting it kicked doesn’t make you stronger. And I know, I know losing a fight is the worst feeling ever, but that doesn't matter. You’re the one who wanted to help this place. You’re the one who wanted to get stronger, and you can run if you want to be number one.”

“...” Slowly, Awesome glanced over at him… and said with a flat look, “Is that the best pep talk you got, Hatey? Cause I've gotta say, not your best speech.”

“At least we’re still trying,” Peepers retorted, narrowing his eye a bit, “Unlike some people.”

“Tc’ch, I DID try,” the shark insisted, though he didn’t put much more effort into arguing. He just continued to lay there, staring up at the sun. The sun, the sky, the islands… “...You know the real reason why I wanted to come to Aqualla… Don’t you, Peepsqueak?”

Peepers stared at him, and then nodded. “It’s only natural that in the middle of change, whether that change is good or bad, we still drift towards the familiar.”

“I hadn’t thought about Aqualla in years. _Years_ , bruh,” he told them, “Not once. There was always a new club to check out, a party to throw, a date to hook up with… I didn’t have time to go home. I didn’t _want_ to go home.”

“Because of all the stuff you hated here?” Hater asked curiously.

“Tc’ch, not even because of that, dude… If we’re being real here, there was about as much stuff that I totally loved here as there was that I hated…” Awesome then closed his eyes, memories playing in front of him like a movie. “When I was a pup, I couldn’t wait to finally be emperor. Like, I was going to be an EPIC emperor! I was going to rule Aqualla my way. Make it what I wanted it to be, something me and my crew could actually enjoy. ...Hmph, easier said than done. And, when I finally got the crown… I wanted nothing to do with it.”

Opening his eyes, Awesome finally sat up, bringing his knees to his chest. “...Zath was right, you know. I didn’t even last half a year on the throne. And it wasn’t even that bad! Sure there were boring meetings, and I couldn’t change the stuff I wanted right away, not to mention my schedule got pretty packed, but…” He paused, then sighed. “But, at the time… It felt like being caught in a whirlpool. Always being dragged down, with no way out.”

“You overestimated your power,” Peepers summarized, crossing his arms, “And you craved the freedom that I’m sure you didn’t get much of the closer you came towards being of age for the crown.”

Awesome pointed a finger-gun at him. “Ding ding, we have a winner. Ugh… It sucked majorly, and I felt like it was only going to get worse from there.”

“And that’s why you left,” Hater finished for him.

“Right on the money, Hatester. I made up some grop about how Aqualla needed to expand, saying how since we were already pretty great, why not make ourselves more known in the Galaxy? Show that we had plenty of muscle to go along with our classiness? Heh, a lot of elites really ate that part up. Once I had enough approval, I picked random aristocrats and officials to be a council, not wanting people here to think that just because I wasn’t here didn’t mean there weren’t still other dudes in charge.”

Awesome paused. “...Temporarily in charge.” That had been the plan, anyway. “And once I felt like everything was taken care of, I had one last bonfire with my bros, and then I was out of there.” Ready to see what the rest of the Galaxy had to offer, and ready to live his own life. And this time, there wouldn’t be anyone OR anything holding him back.

“And then you never came back,” Peepers stated.

“And then I never came back…” Gritting his teeth slightly, Awesome punched the rock underneath him. “Tc’ch, it was so stupid…”

“Hmph, you did a lot of stupid things,” Hater told him, “You’re going to have to be more specific.” Awesome glared at him, but again, he couldn’t really find the words to argue with.

“It’s just… It’s easy to forget about your home when you’re, like, a billion lightyears away from it, you know? I started out legit though. I’d try to take over places during the work week, either by contract or by force, and party hard on the weekends-” Where he’d usually end up destroying a couple moons. Still not quite as big as his eventual planet-destroying parties would be, but still pretty impressive.

“I still remember when we first heard about your takeover of Palhmand,” Peepers spoke up, “That was when you really began making a name for yourself.” After all, it was much easier to remember someone when they had an army of fighters with strong fists for hands.

“Heh, yeah. Those guys DEFINITELY helped. And hey, if other people started calling me a villain, well that was fine by me. Just made my job easier, since I didn’t have to worry about being legal and stuff all the time. Just take the planet, throw a sweet victory party, and move on.”

It had worked well, _very_ well. However, even the memories of his older successes couldn’t keep the shark from continuing to frown. “That’s the kinda sucky thing about reputations though… Sometimes they just kinda… take over.”

Oh sure, he still conquered planets occasionally, just enough to stay in the upper half of the Galactic Leaderboard. But it was almost always an afterthought, an occasional chore or something he’d do only if he didn’t have the resources for a giant party. But the number of planets he had under his control never REALLY mattered. He didn’t even have his own planet under control, and at the time he didn’t even care.

Awesome sighed, his eyes glued to the pale sand and the dead coral. “Power and… and having an empire and, like, just ‘being an emperor’ in general. All of that stuff just stopped meaning anything to me. Or, if it did mean something, it didn’t mean that much… Not compared to being able to throw an awesome party and getting tons of fans for it, or hooking-up with a gorgeous babe or hunk-tastic bro and havin’ a rockin’ time, or keeping up with all the coolest trends, or just BEING cool and awesome! I would have rather been known as the guy who threw the sickest parties in the Galaxy than as the actual emperor of Aqualla or any other planet! How crazy… Tc’ch, how _stupid_ is that?”

His reputation, his look, his freedom, his fun and pleasure and entertainment and coolness - all of that had mattered more to him than his responsibilities, or his home. He was the Emperor of Awesomeness… and the only 'awesomeness' he had cared about was his own.

_"You’re never as cool as you think you are... You can’t keep it going on your own forever, otherwise you’ll just be stuck in the spotlight all alone..."_

“...So, yeah.” Awesome gave Hater another glare, despite the fact that the skeleton was actually giving him a fairly sympathetic look. Tc’ch, whatever, he didn’t want his pity. “Is that specific enough for you, Bonehead?” He looked back at Peepers, who seemed almost expressionless, as if he was waiting for the real bombshell to drop so he could react. Dumb nerd... Annoying little twerp!

Standing up suddenly, Awesome stomped down on the rock, wishing to Glorn above that he had the strength to crack it like all the other planets he had destroyed before-!

Before…

Before...

“...I cared so much about being cool and awesome,” he told them, “Cared so much about my rep and parties and having fun… And in the end, it didn’t even matter.” He gritted his teeth as he tried to ignore how much his knees shook and his arms burned. “Cool clothes didn’t stop me from getting captured… My parties didn’t stop me from getting defeated from you guys, or- or the furball or Do- _h-her!_ My stupid flarping reputation didn’t stop me from losing EVERYTHING! FROM BECOMING A TOTAL FLARPING JOKE WITH NO **REAL** POWER!”

His voice was cracking now, but Awesome didn’t care. He just didn’t care. “I-I joined the Hater Empire so I could be stronger, strong enough to feel safe again! Strong enough to... to get back to what I actually wanted to do, to get back to parties a-and being cool and doing whatever the flarp I wanted and just feeling like myself again!" That had always been his goal, ever since he joined the Hater Empire, and he had made that very clear from the beginning. But... "...But then I remembered this place.”

Awesome clenched his eyes shut for just a moment, though that was enough for him to see the disappointed and ashamed faces of his crew. “And not only do I learn about how badly I screwed up… But I realize that I’m not even strong enough to rule my own planet! I’m not strong enough to help my bros, or defend myself. So much for your training, eh Peeps? So, what, I just leave them to suffer and get back out there?”

He let out a bitter laugh. “I mean, it worked _soooo_ great the first time, right?! I’m sure it’ll be fine this time too… Until the next big villain shows up and wrecks me. Or until you guys put a stop to me. Hmph, there’s no way I can party on a Hater Empire planet now. Or, heck, maybe it’ll only take until my next flop of a party, or the next time I pass out on some stage, or-!”

“Enough.”

Blinking, Awesome looked back at Peepers. The Commander was scowling at him now. Out of annoyance or anger? Awesome wasn’t sure. “You’re just going on and on at this point,” Peepers continued, “We get it, you messed up on your home planet, and you spent too much time focused on the wrong things. Now you feel like you’re at a major disadvantage.”

He narrowed his eye a bit, though not at Awesome. "You want to go back to the status quo, whether it be from your childhood or from something as recent as last year. But that - both in reality and in your head - have been destroyed. Completely and utterly shattered. No longer an option. And believe me, I know how disheartening that can be, but it _doesn’t matter._ So… Let’s focus on the present.”

Peepers swam off the coral and towards the shark, stopping only when they were eye-to-eye with each other. “What is your new goal, and what do you want to do about it?”

Awesome stared back at him, both shocked and stared. His mouth was open slightly, but no words came out, and for what felt like an eternity, the ocean around them was silent. Although the stillness of the water didn't matter, it just felt like he was back in a whirlpool, just being dragged further and further down by his emotions and thoughts and memories and doubts with no chance of escape.

...And yet, there was still one single promise that kept popping up, something that he could grab onto so he could keep himself from drowning, at least for that moment. And so finally, _finally_ -

“I want to help my bros.” Awesome swallowed. His voice was still quiet and shaky, but it was also strong enough to be heard. “I-I don’t know what I’ll do after that, what I can do after… after all this. But, for now… I want to help my bros, a-and everyone else on the islands.” He wasn't going to just forget about them anymore.

“...Okay. Then do it,” Peepers told him, “Push aside your fears and doubts, and try something. Try _again_. THAT'S how you get stronger, how you regain power and agency. Get off this rock, save all your venting and self-loathing for after hours, and figure out a plan.”

“...” Awesome bit his lip. “Do… Do you think you guys could uh… give me a hand with that?”

“Well yeah!” Hater shouted, making Awesome turned around, “That’s pretty much the second reason we’re here. I mean, we may not be related to him or have any personal issues with him like you do but, it’s not like WE want Zath to rule this place either! The guy’s a total jerk!” He then smirked. “Even more than you were, and that’s saying something.”

“Oh, no doubt,” Peepers added as he swam over to his lord, “Besides, there are still several resources here that I’m interested in experimenting with, and I can’t exactly do that if you have no power here. ...Well, actually I COULD but, that would require a hostile takeover and well, that’s not exactly our style anymore. So, helping you return to the throne is a good second option, don’t you think?”

Awesome stared at them, and then despite everything, he laughed. “Heh, yeah... A pretty good plan B. Why not give it a shot?”

Even with his smile and laughter though, he still felt unsure, with absolutely no ideas on how he could overthrow Zath, and certainly no ideas on what his life was going to be like after all this was done and over with. He didn’t know if he’d ever be an Emperor of Awesomeness ever again, or at least, not in the way he had wanted to be one.

...But he could still be an Emperor of Aqualla, just this once. He owed his people that much.

“Okay…” He took a deep breath, then stood tall and punched the palm of his hand. “Okay, okay... Let’s just figure out a game plan, get our grop together, and... and go kick Zath’s a-!”

***BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP!***

Awesome froze, as if expecting some sort of attack or missile while Hater, who was right next to the loud noise, flinched while his jellies quickly swam away. “What the-?”

A second beeping began, this time behind Peepers. The Commander looked at the tank on his back and groaned. “We’re nearly out of air! We’ll have to surface, get some more air tanks, and come back down later.”

“Ughhhh, seriously!” Hater scowled, “But I want to go fight that guy now!”

“Uh, we still don’t have an actual plan, dude,” Awesome reminded him, “But, maybe this is a good thing.”

“He’s right, Sir,” Peepers nodded, “While we’re up there we can gather up the Watchdogs in case we need them.”

“And, there’s a few other bros I know that we can grab too,” Awesome smiled softly, “And while we’re at it, maybe I can give them another apology, and let them know that I’m legit one hundred percent on their side, no matter what.”

So with that, the trio swam back up towards the surface - and just in time too. Once they tossed their helmets off, it took Hater and Peepers nearly three minutes to catch their breath. Thankfully, once they had it, they were quickly able to get back to work - and luckily the swim back to the island wasn’t nearly as exhausting.

“Alright, to the jet-ski!” Peepers ordered as he stomped onto the sandy shore, “It should still be tied to the dock-”

“Which is only a couple blocks away!” Awesome told him, “We’ll get there in no time at all!” Then the hard part of their ‘mission’ would really begin. He still didn’t have too many ideas, the wounds on both his body and ego since his last fight with his cousin still very much felt… Good thing he had back-up with both brains and brawn.

“Actually, I know a way we can get there even faster!” Peepers smirked, “Sir, quick, take off your diving suit and-!” He looked to his side, and saw only air. “...Sir?” He looked back towards the ocean, but didn’t see anyone there either. “Sir?! SIRRRR-!”

“I’m up here, Peepers! Grop, you’ve gotta stop worrying so much!”

"...Oh." Sure enough, when Peepers looked up at the boardwalk, he spotted his lord with his diving suit only halfway off as he continued walking forward. And as he and Awesome raced up to meet him, Hater barely slowed down.

“Uh, thanks for waiting for us, bro!” Awesome snapped, scowling at him, “What’s your deal anyway?” The skeletal lord didn’t answer, though his steps did finally slow a bit as he glanced down another street. “...Uh, hello? Hey bonehead, you in there?”

“What in the world?” Peepers spoke up as he looked down the street himself. Well, at least now he sort of knew what had Hater so distracted. Awesome followed the Watchdog’s gaze and… yeah, that was definitely weird.

“...Guys, is it me…” Hater said slowly as he started walking forward again, “Or are there wayyyy more people here than there was before…?”

Peepers quickly took Hater’s hand, not wanting him to get too far ahead. “I don’t think so, Sir. It’s still a small crowd, even just a couple of platoons of Watchdogs could outnumber them. But it’s still a crowd nonetheless…” He furrowed his brow. “Could it be a massive island exodus?” Were they already too late?

“Nah,” Awesome said, narrowing his eyes a bit at the crowd, “Look, no one’s got any luggage.” They weren’t in a hurry either. They were just trudging along, quiet yet determined as they traveled down the street towards… somewhere (but where?). And, thanks to the crowd’s silence, he was just barely able to hear a sort of soft melody being carried over the island winds.

And as they continued to watch, with Hater still trying to join the crowd, the former emperor only had one thought: Just what the grop was going on here?!

**TO BE CONTINUED!**


	5. Chapter 5

Needless to say, it was pretty surreal to be standing in the middle of a crowd and yet not being the center of attention - or at least, it was for Awesome.

“Hey! Yo!” he said, tapping random Aquallians on the shoulder, yanking them back, even waving his hand in front of their faces. But no matter what he did, no one even seemed to slow down. “Geez… These guys really are out of it.”

 _*PEW!*_ Spinning on his heel, Awesome looked over at Peepers who, using his free hand, had his blaster pointed at the sky, a small stream of smoke now coming off the tip of it. “Hmph, not even a flinch…” Frowning, the Commander put his weapon away. “If that didn’t get their attention, nothing will.”

“Well, we have to keep trying!” He glanced over at Hater, still dazed and still trying to join the crowd. “I’d suggest maybe letting off some lightning or maybe shocking these guys back to normal, but I don’t even think Hatey can hear us right now.”

“...” Peepers looked up at his lord, clearly worried. “Well, if we can’t break the trance, then we have to find the source of it.”

“Tc’ch, no kidding.” Awesome stood on his toes, searching as far as he could, but not really seeing anything out of the ordinary. Though, that calm melody he could just barely hear before was starting to get louder… Loud enough that he could tell that it was a voice (or voices) rather than instruments. Could it be…? “Stay here, Peepsqueak. I’ma go check it out.”

Not giving his temporary boss any time to argue, the shark rushed forward. He easily weaved in and out between people, his steps light yet firm, keeping him from tripping over any stray limbs. If this was what he thought it was, then maybe he still had time to stop-

He stopped. Out of the corner of his eye, he had spotted something high up. Something bright, and yellow… “Oh no.” Unable to help himself, Awesome looked to his side.

Sure enough, he could see a familiar tall octopus as part of the crowd, her yellow bow looking like the only ‘bright’ part of her left given her current flat expression. And she wasn’t alone.

“HEY!” Awesome shouted, waving his arms as he ran over to them. “Shi-Shi? Gnarly! Tubes?!” He gave Gnarly a hard shove, but the crab-man just kept going. He tried pulling Shimizu and Tubular back, hoping for any sort of reaction. “Yo, bros! Come ON! Snap out of it!” But again, nothing seemed to work, and his heart sank as his old crew refused to even look at him. They just kept slowly moving along.

In an act of desperation, he picked up The Epicness (she always was the lightest, and was usually the one getting lifted or tossed in dance class), shaking her slightly. “Ugh, come on T.E., look at me! Glare at me, call me a chum-brained flarf-narbler, do SOMETHING!”

For a moment, it almost seemed like it worked. The Epicness slowly blinked a couple of her eyes. She glanced up at him… and then pressed her hands against his chest as a weak attempt to escape his grip. “Have to…” she mumbled, her head now turning towards the start of another boardwalk that the rest of the mob was already turning onto. The singing went up another level of volume, and The Epicness tried just a bit harder to push Awesome away. “Can’t miss… the show… have to… go…”

“...” Knowing that it was useless to keep trying, Awesome slowly set her down before running forward once more. And as he followed the rest of his people’s lead, he could start to see a giant amphitheatre resting near the shore. It’s curtains were drawn, but with the spotlights already illuminating the stage and the speakers’ already projecting out five smooth, harmonizing voices, it was easy to assume that the show had already begun.

Awesome growled, clenching his fists. “Zath... “ It was all starting to make sense now! Maybe he wasn’t a good emperor, but it was becoming very clear that Zath wasn’t a good ruler either, just a controlling one. “Oh, he is SO going to get it no-oof!” He looked down at his leg, about ready to snap at whoever had ran into him, and his heart sank again. “Grop, Peeps, not you too!”

Unsurprising by this point, Peepers didn’t even look at him, the iris of his eye now dull and nearly lifeless. “The… the show… have to hear…”

Not even bothering with trying to shake him out of it, Awesome just scooped Peepers up and carried him under his arm like a football. Spotting Hater just a few feet away, he rushed to meet up with him.

“Okay, clearly it’s a total lost cause to try and snap everyone here out of it, but we’ve at least gotta get you guys out of here,” he said, grabbing the skeleton’s arm. Distance would help, right? “Alright, Hatey? Bro? You’ve gotta listen to me, bro! You’ve gotta teleport us back to the ship. The Skullship, remember? You need to teleport us back there! You think you can do that, Hatey?”

Hater furrowed his brow slightly. “Teleport… to pretty music-?”

“No! NO!” Awesome groaned. “Okay, that’s not gonna work.” Maybe he could just drag them away then. He could easily do that with Peepers, after all. But Hater? Not so much. Even when in a trance, the guy was still pretty strong, and a couple hilarious incidents on the ship had taught him that Hater’s arms also had a tendency to fall off. “And having a powerful guy like Hater under his control would just screw us over even more…”

And besides, dragging them back was one thing, but how was he going to make them swim-?

Wait.

WAIT.

“Oh snap!” Awesome grinned. Looping his arm around Hater’s now so that he could have both hands free, he then lifted Peepers up and began searching his pockets until he found the tiny remote that he was looking for. Hoping it would work, he pressed the big red button, and waited.

Seconds passed, then half a minute, and then-

Then he heard the sound of a roaring engine. Unable to help himself, he fistpumped in victory - and nearly dropped Peepers in the process. “Whoops! Sorry, man.”

Still, he kept smiling as the red and black jet-ski flew towards them. He also noticed a rope and a piece of broken wood from the dock flying behind it but eh, whatever. “Gotta say, making a jet-ski that worked on water AND air?” he told Peepers as he tossed him up onto the slowing vehicle, “That was some good nerd thinking there, nerd!”

He then lowered the jet-ski just a little, and hopped onto it himself, making sure to put Peepers in his lap so the Commander wouldn’t just jump back off. Once he managed to yank Hater onto the seat behind him (a bit easier said than done - “How does a guy with no actual muscle weigh so flarpin’ much?!” - but still accomplishable), he didn’t waste any time in blasting off.

He flew up and over the crowd and the buildings and shoreline of the island before landing right in the water and speeding away as the music behind them became fainter and fainter, until it was completely non-existent. But even so, he didn’t let himself slow down any, wanting to get back to the Skullship as soon as possible.

They were about halfway there when Hater and Peepers began to ‘wake up’, much to the shark-man’s relief. “Ughhh, wha-? W-What happened?” he heard Peepers ask, “When did we get back on the jet-ski, and- and why am I in your lap?!”

“Long story short: My cousin’s totally a siren,” Awesome explained, “And you guys totes fell hard under the song he and his bros were singing. Trust me, you and everyone else on the islands were totally out of it. Well, everyone but me.” Good thing a siren’s song had no effect on their relatives.

“Uhhh, did you say sirens?” Hater asked from behind him, “You mean, like, those pretty mermaid ladies that like to sing and drown sailors?”

“No. _What?_ Okay, I don’t know what kind of sirens you’ve met, bro, but Zath is no pretty mermaid. And I’m pretty sure what he’s doing is worse than drowning people.” Spotting the Skullship in the distance, Awesome increased his speed.

Grabbing hold of the vehicle just to make sure he didn’t fall out, Peepers glanced up at the shark. “Erg, well then, just what _is_ he using his songs for?”

()()()()()()()()()()

By the time the curtains were preparing to finally rise, the entire floating amphitheater was surrounded by thousands of eager Aquallians. Whether they had needed to come up to the surface or swim out to the ocean, it didn’t matter. No matter what, _everyone_ had to see show.

Those from underwater were definitely the more lively of the bunch, genuinely excited with a few of the younger audience members even wearing expensive concert merchandise adorned with the letter ‘Z’ or various royal family logos. Though that wasn’t to say that the older members of high Aquallian society weren’t also excited. Many of them had even dressed up for the occasion, as if they were seeing an opera (complete with pearl-studded opera glasses).

As for the members of the audience that were from the islands, they just floated there, looking completely indifferent to the whole thing. Yet they were still unable to actually leave, not while the voices and songs commanded them to stay.

Eventually though, the voices did slowly fade out. The spotlights dimmed, and as the curtains rose, half the audience completely erupted in applause. Even in the dark, Zath’s toothy grin shone as he looked out over his people. ‘Just as it should be,’ he thought to himself.

In a flash, the lights came back on, allowing the five young men to show off their outfits. The actual clothing didn’t have much of a variety, with all of them wearing some variation of a shirt, dark pants, and jacket with some sort of personal, unique accessory for each of them. To add some sense of uniformity, each of them also had the color purple somewhere in their outfits.

Unsurprisingly, Zath stood in the center of his group, easily making the stage his own. His outfit was a dark blue shirt with stylish grey slacks, a long purple jacket with a ‘Z’ stitched into it. Along with his blonde hair now being a bit more styled in spiky, he still wore his crown along with an earring on his dorsal fin.

Striking a bit of a casual pose, he flashed another grin at his people, this one being much more charming than the last. And this time, _everyone_ in the audience cheered for it, with the various islanders slowly beginning to smile at their emperor. “Well, sounds like everyone is ready for the show to start. Am I right~?”

The crowd screamed back at him, swimming closer to the stage. The rest of the sirens smirked while Zath just chuckled. Not wanting to make his people wait any longer, he began to sing. A simple long note, quickly joined by four others, resulting in a beautiful harmony. Everyone in the water silenced themselves, just as the song commanded.

The group paused, allowing the digital instruments to come in and provide the proper tempo before continuing to sing in what could now be called a very catchy melody. Zath kept the lead with his lyrics while the other sirens kept to long notes and sang back-up, only occasionally chiming in. They even began dancing in sync, adding to the hypnotic feel of the performance.

_“Oooooh, oooooh,_

_Ah-ahhh, yeah-ahhh~_

_Feel the waves underneath us, b_ _ringing us home,_

_The seaweed swaying, jellyfish all aglow_

_Our perfect utopia, under the sea_

_You’ll always be safe, all thanks to me~_

_I’ll protect us forever, I’ll never fall, (Oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh)_

_Hearts deep as our ocean, I’ll be our wall (Oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh)_

_Our planet will live forever, guaranteed,_

_Traditions protected, we're living hap-pily,_

_Under the sea, all thanks to me~”_

Unable to help themselves, the entire crowd cheered, waving their arms and fins as they continued to watch and listen, with any troubles they might have had now miles away. What did those problems matter now anyway? They were happy! They were content! They had all they needed, all thanks to their emperor!

And, with everyone’s eyes glued to the stage, it was easy for a small red and black drone to hover there unnoticed…

“...Wait, so, your cousin and these other sirens have the ability to control other people with singing, and they decide to put together a boy band?!” Hater questioned. Sure, he might have done something similar before with his own band but… seriously? A _boy band?!_

“Yyyyep.” Awesome glared at the screen. “Gotta give him credit though, no one would’ve ever suspected it.” He then noticed something off the edge of the drone’s ‘eye’. “...And it looks like they aren’t just controlling my people either.”

Using the control pad, Awesome turned the drone slightly, revealing a small patch of cheering Watchdogs with hearts in their eyes, using various floating devices to stay in the water.

“...You know what, I’m not even surprised at this point,” Peepers stated, too tired to even facepalm, “And you know, you could have told us about all this. We might have been able to prepare something-!”

“Hey, I didn’t even know!” Awesome shot back, “For one, only like one in every few thousand Aquallians are born as a siren! And in case you can’t tell, Zath and I weren’t exactly close, so if he knew he was a siren when he was a kid, I doubt he would have told me about it.”

He crossed his arms, turning his attention back to the screen. “Besides, most sirens just use their songs to win musical auditions or talent competitions, not take over whole planets. ...Then again, there’s only so much one voice can do, only so many people and things they can influence. But have five or so sirens with really strong voices singing together and, well… Tc’ch, it’s no wonder he decided to put together something like this.” Even if it was still totally lame.

Hater’s eyes widened a bit in realization. “And if they can just sing some dumb song to get people to not attack him or stop being mad or even forget why they were mad in the first place, then- then he’s basically untouchable!”

“I was wondering why, despite all the poor conditions and a very clear case of injustice and unrest, there weren’t any protests,” Peepers told them, “No rebellions, not even a petition! And now it looks like we know why…” Awesome’s frown deepened as he remembered The Epicness’ words from earlier. _We can’t even fight back… We can’t fight back._ “Hmph, not the most evil thing I’ve ever seen, but certainly diabolical...”

“Right, which is why we’ve gotta shut the grop down ASAP!” Awesome snapped, “So, let’s figure out a game plan-”

“Hmph, we’ve already got one,” Hater said, cracking his knuckles. In a case like this, he knew for a fact that he wouldn’t be able to strike any deals or work out any compromises with Zath, and he definitely wasn’t going to give the guy any more chances to hypnotize him. So, that left him with one, very familiar option. “We go down there - with headphones on - and I zap him into the next galaxy!”

Awesome groaned, rolling his eyes. “Believe me, Hatey, I get where you’re coming from and I would LOVE to see Zath get fried, but that won’t work!”

“Oh yeah? Well, why not?!”

“Think about it: Zath’s got pretty much every Aquallian under not just his control, but his influence! If we go down there and attack, he could totally just turn the crowd completely against us, make US look like the bad guys! And even if we cut off his mic or get him to shut up, they’re still gonna be under his control for a while. I mean, you guys were out of it for like ten minutes, and that was AFTER I got you both out of there!” If they wanted to take Aqualla back, then they needed to at least have a fair shot at getting everyone on their side. But as long as his people were under a siren’s song, it’d be pretty much impossible!

“And if he gets desperate enough, he may even begin commanding his audience to act as his bodyguards,” Peepers added, “And once we start attacking innocent civilians, it’s all over. Zatharie would have all the evidence he’d ever need to show why we aren’t to be trusted.”

“...Right…” Hater furrowed his brow. “So, if we want to attack Zath, we’ve gotta stop his song AND break whatever weird trance everyone’s under before we can make a move... “ He glanced over at Awesome. “Do you have any siren powers that you could use to just, you know, counteract the other siren song or whatever?”

The shark-man gave him a flat look. “Uhhh, there’s a reason I’m the dancer of my family, dude. Trust me, no one here wants to hear me sing. Not while they’re sober, at least.”

“Hmm, though he may still be onto something...” Peepers mumbled. Turning back to the computer screen, he minimized the drone’s footage before opening up a tool that showed the sound waves from the recording, showing the various pitches and tones from the group’s song.

“Their song is mostly vocal. Vocal with a bit of a biological influence yes, but it’s still just audio. Just a collection of sounds, and sound can easily be corrupted or disrupted. And if that’s the case, then it’s reasonable to believe that sound can also overpower other sounds - even ones with biological or supernatural properties.”

Clicking the file several times, Peepers began splitting the audio sample into several small sections, looking at each one of them carefully. “So, if we not only cut off the sirens’ song and weaken their influence, but also match their song in it’s intensity and pitch with a song of our own using a stronger and more jarring sound, then perhaps we’d have a chance at snapping the audience out of their trance almost immediately! Which would allow us to, at the very least, take control of the situation and say what we need to say to get the ball of rebellion rolling!”

“...Uh, Peeps?” Awesome began to say, “Was all of that just nerd talk for what I think you’re suggesting?”

Peepers simply smirked back at him before turning to his lord. “Sir, I think you should go get your guitar while I go get the drumset. And Private Awesome, I believe you’re fairly skilled with a keytar?”

Both former conquerors shared a grin, now knowing EXACTLY what Peepers plan was. “Hmph, let’s show these losers what REAL music is and get your planet back!.” “Awww yeah! Now THIS, is gonna be _awesome~_ ”

()()()()()()()()()()()

As soon as they heard their voices begin to fade out, the audience let out another round of cheers and applause. Zath smirked, giving a bit of a bow - which caused several people to cry out in alarm.

“Oh, don’t worry,” he said, softening his smile, “We aren’t ending the show yet. The night is still young! I was just showing my people how much I appreciate them.” He then winked, causing several young women (as well as a few men) to nearly faint. “So, why don’t we keep this show going with an _old fa-vor-iiiiite~?_ ”

Despite their clear excitement at this proposition, the Aquallians hushed themselves once more as Zath started the next song, the synthesizer laying off the beats for a bit and instead providing a smooth, romantic melody.

And as the other sirens continued to sing, their strong voices harmonizing with their emperor's perfectly, three figures took the opportunity to move about backstage…

“Do you both remember the notes we have to hit?” Peepers whispered, wincing slightly as he put his drums down, “And the tempo?”

 _“Whaaaat?”_ Hater narrowed his eyes. “Peepers,  if you’re trying to ask if we know what we’re doing, then yeah, we’ve got it!” Grabbing a spare speaker, he quickly plugged his guitar in. “This plan had better work. I mean, we don’t exactly have a plan B here!” Not unless they considered ‘zapping Zath and hoping for the best’ a decent back-up plan.

“It’s gonna work, Hatey. Trust me, brah.” _“Whaaaat?”_ Awesome just gave him a toothy grin. He knew from experience, nothing slowed a performance down - and knocked the star off his groove - more than being upstaged. “Alright guys,” he said, raising his voice just a little bit, “let’s do this.”

Hater and Peepers nodded, the former raising his hand and pointing it directly at the amphitheater circuit box. With a zap, the box was fried, and the entire stage went pitch black. The music stopped, as did the group’s singing, though more out of shock than just their microphones turning off.

The crowd was still in a silent trance, even as they floated in the dark, though they wouldn’t be for much longer. Knowing exactly what was going on, Zath scowled while the rest of his band blindly looked around in confusion. “Uhh, what was that?” “Okay, did you guys add this to the act without telling me?” “No!” “Did we blow a fuse?”

“No, you idiots! It’s my-!” Zath felt a pair of hands grabbed his shoulders, push him towards the edge of the stage before shoving him straight into the water below. And, judging by the surprised yelps and splashes that he heard, the other sirens quickly met the same fate. The emperor of course tried to get back up, but the stage was just too high up to climb onto, and all the ladders were placed up and behind the stage during shows to prevent rabid fans from storming it. A decent safety idea, now a total annoyance!

“Now, Lord Hater!” Peepers shouted as he and his lord removed their earplugs. The Commander then grabbed his drumsticks, having them at the ready. All three of them were in position, so now it was really time to get this show ENDED!

With a smirk, Hater began playing. It didn’t sound like much at first, it didn’t even sound as good as playing an acoustic guitar. But as his electricity traveled through the guitar, into the amp and then to the nearest outlet, the entire stage was soon bathed in a bright green light. Closing his eyes for just a moment, Hater also sent a few bolts few his horns, shooting them up towards the stage lights and electrifying them as well.

And as soon as the lights came back on, that’s when Hater’s guitar finally came to life, the speakers sending out a VERY loud riff that made several Aquallians flinch in surprise. What was this new sound?

Hater (who had traded in his hood for a red headband and was now wearing a shredded black vest that revealed his boney chest and ribcage, as well as red metallic pants and plenty of stylized black eyeshadow) continued to shred on his guitar, knowing that they didn’t have any time to waste. He could already hear his commander coming in with a strong, steady beat. And, while he hadn’t gotten to into the idea of ‘looking the part’, Peepers did agree to trade in his usual uniform shirt for a collared, black one with gold glitter. A messy ‘rocker hair’ wig had also been put on over his helmet, and while Peepers certainly didn’t approve of it, at least the hair wasn’t getting in his eye.

Finally, in came the synthesized, high-energy notes of the keytar. While the guitar was still a sort of heavy sound no matter how much it screeched, the keytar was the perfect way to bring their sound up and over the top! And knowing very well that stage presence was just as important as the performance (especially when trying to get people’s attention), Awesome had gone all out with his outfit. A bright purple slightly-shredded tank-top, pink leather pants with a tigrex pattern on them, silver high-heeled boots, gold armbands, and various types of makeup that had been smeared across his face like it was war paint.

And as the three of them played together, their instruments harmonizing and screeching as they rose in tones and tempo, they could already see their plan starting to work. There were no cheers, but there were no boos either. People were murmuring to each other though, and to themselves, their eyes slowly starting to lose the glaze that had settled over them. They were starting to come out of their daze!

And, to make matters even better (or, perhaps worse in Zath’s case), their instruments were too loud for even strong sirens to sing over. The emperor growled, slapping the water in frustration before turning back to CJ. “Why aren’t those morons turning off the power?!”

“They’re trying!” the eel replied, covering his walkie-talkie, “But they say the circuit box isn’t even on! Technically it’s already off!”

“Ugh, of course…” The skeleton’s electrical powers! With Lord Hater in control, it was a guarantee that there would be no more ‘surprise power outages’.

“...Okay, I know they ruined our show but, they are kind of good,” Johnny quietly commented.  

“Yeah,” Nick nodded, “I mean, their sound is sort of rough and crude but, it’s not that-” Noticing a sharp glare from Zath, the whale-shark quickly reconsidered his words. “Er, I mean, t-they’re terrible?”

“Ugh…” Turning his attention back to the stage, Zath suddenly began to smirk. Looks like it was time for his back-up plan to finally come in. “If they want to keep the lights on, then fine. In fact, I think we can help them with that. CJ? Those adjustments that I had you give to the stage crew? Did you make sure they were done?”

“Yeah, of course,” CJ nodded, getting out the new remote that had been made earlier that day. He still didn’t quite understand why it was needed though. Why would someone who was on stage need to control the lights when there were already people backstage doing that?

If Zath knew the answer, he still wasn’t going to waste time explaining it. He just snatched the remote, and turned it on. “They may have taken over, but I’M still in control…”

“Yo! Peeps!” Awesome shouted, glancing over his shoulder at the Watchdog drummer, “How are we doing?!”

“We’ve hit most of the required tones and frequencies,” Peepers yelled back, “Just a little bit longer!”

“Fine by me!” Hater told them, already going into another makeshift guitar solo. Awesome and Peepers followed his lead, increasing their pitch and volume. Just a few more chords and they would be-!

Suddenly, the stage lights above them began to move. “What the-?” Awesome glanced up, only to be nearly blinded as the lights shone directly on him. His playing began to falter as his body began to sweat under the intense heat. And, while he still couldn’t fully open his eyes, he could tell that the lights had quickly shifted from yellow… to red.

“Hmph, this will always be my stage. _My_ kingdom,” Zatharie said smugly as he began swimming around the floating stage, his bandmates following him, “And don’t you ever forget it, cousin~”

Even after only being under the lights for a few seconds, Awesome could feel his breathing start to get heavier. His skin sweating, burning… No! NO! Stop it! This wasn’t her ship! He knew very well he was still on stage. They were just stage lights. Just lights! ...So if that was the case, why did he still feel so on edge?

By this point he wasn’t even playing the keytar, which just made him panic even more. Peepers had planned out the tones and harmonies they had to play precisely with no room for error. They needed all three of their instruments for this plan to work! But even as Awesome tried his best to step out of the spotlights, he never found any relief, the harsh lights following his every move. There didn’t seem to be any escape, so what could he do? What could he-?!

 ***ZAP!*** There was the sound of broken glass, and the lights and heat surrounding him became a bit less intense. Several more zaps followed, shattering the spotlights above until there were only a couple remaining, enough for Awesome to finally open his eyes. He glanced back at Peepers, who had his now-smoking blaster in one hand while his other continued to drum. He simply nodded at the shark, smiling ever-so slightly.

“Come on, Awesome!” he heard Hater scream, “Take us home!”

Gripping his instrument, Awesome grinned. “No problem!” He only played long notes at first, then he got higher and faster, matching the beat of the song in no time at all. And as he played, his feet began to move as well. Stepping and sliding and kicking and twirling, all as the music got faster and higher and louder-

Sliding on his knees as he did so, Awesome played one final chord, right as Hater strummed one last riff and Peepers went into a finishing drumroll. The speakers shook as their music echoed across the ocean, shaking nearly every Aquallian in the audience to their core.

The trio watched the crowds came to, shaking their head and rubbing their eyes. The citizens from the islands looked relieved, while the ones who had actually wanted to see the show just looked confused. “Hey! Hey dudes, look!” a voice shouted, causing Awesome to look further out, where he spotted his crew. “It’s Awesome!” Gnarly grinned, pointing a claw at the stage while the rest of his friends shook off their last of their daze, “See! Told ya he’d come through! Way to go, man!”

Awesome smiled. He wanted to give Gnarly a shoutout. He wanted to just jump in the water and swim over to his friends to make sure they were alright. Unfortunately, they only had a short amount of time and a lot to reveal. So, putting on his most serious emperor game face, Awesome stood up and took one of the microphones.

“Aquallians!” he said, quickly getting their attention once more, “As you may or may not know, my cousin - your current emperor - has been doing some pretty messed up stuff! And he hasn’t just been abusing his authority as an emperor, but also his siren powers! That’s why you’re all here tonight! He and his buddies aren’t just singin’ to show off, they’re singing to keep everyone in line and to hide the tru-AGH!”

Something had flown towards him, too fast to dodge. Awesome could now feel a deep cut in his arm, one that was already leaking blood. The crowd gasped. “AWESOME!” he heard Hater and Peepers shout, just as something clattered to the stage floor. Hissing in pain, he glanced over his shoulder and spotted a blood-splattered dagger lying not too far behind him, its iridescent blade clearly made out of pearls with a gold handle attached to it. Only one guy on Aqualla had a knife THAT fancy…

“Shame,” Zath sneered as he strolled onto the stage, his clothes still dripping with water, “I was aiming for your _neck_.”

Awesome gritted his teeth, but forced himself to smile as he pulled one of his armbands up to try and cover the wound. “Heh, guess our performance really was a showstopper if it rattled you enough to try and kill me.”

“Not really, Guppy,” Zath shot back, narrowing his eyes just a little, “I just wanted to finally shut that big mouth of yours.”

“Hey man, I was just sayin’ the truth.” He turned back to their audience. His eyes held a strong gaze with them despite the pain. “If you’re livin’ under the surface you probably have no idea, but Zath’s been cuttin’ the islands off. Making it hard for them to make money, or even get food and supplies! He’s forcing them to either move back underwater - probably to a place away from their bros that they can barely even afford - or to leave Aqualla all together! Now, whether or not you ‘approve’ of people living outside of the ocean, I think we can all agree that’s pretty messed up!”

With no daze or trance holding back, the islanders began to back him up. “He’s right!” “We’ve been dealing with this for years!” "We're Aquallians too!" “What have we done to be forced into bankruptcy?!”

“Hundreds of innocent Aquallians have been suffering,” The Epicness shouted, “and not even through any fault of our own! It's all thanks to our 'oh-so-great' emperor!”

“And it’s only gotten worse since Dominator!” Shimizu added, raising a couple tentacles in anger.

Tubular scoffed. “Forcing some of his people to suffer in silence just because of their lifestyle? Rigging the system while favoring only the wealthy and ‘traditional’? Refusing to help us even a little?! He’s WORSE than Dominator!” they yelled, causing a few other islanders cheered in agreement.

Much to Awesome’s relief, he could see some of Aquallians from underwater start to murmur and whisper to each other again, looking at their current emperor in shock and disapproval. Even a couple of the elites looked disturbed by this truth bomb. Their planet may have had some huge class and value issues, but at least his people weren’t totally heartless.

“And the Aquallians who are suffering can’t even fight back!” Awesome continued, “Because if they try, Zath and his little boy band will just sing their song and force them to back down, just like they did tonight!”

“Um, actually-” Vance started to say as he and the rest of the sirens swam back out to the front of the stage, “We prefer the term ‘male acapella group with more style’. I mean, yeah, ‘boy band’ is pretty accurate too but the other one just sounds classi-” Seeing the glares that he was getting from both sharks, the dolphin quickly shut up.

“Fine, I can’t deny it,” Zath said, crossing his arms. Despite the calm pose though, Awesome immediately became on edge. Considering that this was the guy who tried to kill him just a couple minutes ago, it was off putting that he didn’t even look angry. “But, have I not taken care of our underwater cities since my very first day as emperor? And as for the islands, I’m simply giving them the freedom they desire! That was why they abandoned the ocean, wasn’t it? And as well all know, freedom does sometimes have a price-”

“They haven’t abandoned ANYTHING!” Awesome argued, “The islands are still part of Aqualla! They still care about this planet just as much as anyone else!”

Zatharie scoffed, still easily keeping his cool. “I can assure you, citizens,” he began as he stepped towards the front of the stage, “Everything I have done, I have ONLY done for the sake of Aqualla. To keep are aquatic utopias thriving!” He smirked. “As I say in one of my favorite songs… _Our perfect utopia, under the sea. You’ll always be safe, all thanks to_ -OOF!”

Stumbling a bit as he held his now-bruised face, Zath glared at his cousin, who could only grin back. Hater and Peepers, as well as a good portion of the crowd, were cheering at the punch as well, making it all the more aggravating. “That was a cheap shot, Guppy,” the tiger-shark growled, “No surprise, coming from you. And besides, it’s not like it’ll help you anyway.”

And unfortunately, Zatharie was right. Awesome knew that, as soon as he had the chance to do so, his cousin would gather up his sirens and they’d reset everyone’s minds. They’d insist to the underwater Aquallians that the issues had been taken care of while still continuing to hide the suffering of those above the water. And anyone who fought back would be silenced, or worse. In retrospect, this one success didn’t do a thing! Not when it could all easily be undone.

So if Awesome wanted everyone on Aqualla to be happy - if he wanted to stop Zath once and for all - there was only one last option…

“Like I said when I first got here, cus,” Awesome began to say as he clenched his fists, “I’m the real emperor here. This is my planet, and I’m takin’ it back.”

Zath laughed. “Oh really? And what makes you think YOU deserve it? You abandoned this place to go party! You’re no emperor, not anymore!”

Awesome winced, but he didn’t falter. “I’m not gonna deny it. I messed up, but I’m gonna make things right. So come on, let’s settle this once and for all. Let’s throw down. No weapons, just a one-on-one fight for the crown.”

“Hmm…” Zath smirked. “I don’t know, Herschel. If you remember correctly, the last time we ‘threw down’, it didn’t go so well for you.”

“If you’re so sure of the outcome, then what do you have to lose?” Awesome retorted.

“...Fine. It’ll be fun to humiliate you twice in the same day, and in front of an audience!” An audience that, for the most part, looked too shocked or were in too much suspense to even pick a side. Of course, Awesome’s friends still cheered him on, while a few of the elites and some fangirls and fanboys just scoffed and laughed at the idea of anyone beating Zatharie.

“You’ve got this, Awesome,” Hater told him quietly, his own hands at the ready in case there were any dirty tricks, “Take this jerk down!” As for Peepers, he just watched intently in silence. He knew Awesome had the skills to win a fight, though that wasn’t a guarantee that he would win. But the former emperor still had a decent shot… He just had to stay focused!

With no official start time to the fight, the two sharks just began to slowly circle each other, not once taking their eyes off one another as they waited for somebody to make the first move…

**TO BE CONCLUDED!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> LAST CHAPTER! Phew! One more oneshot to go after this, and then this arc is officially over!
> 
> Thank you to everyone who has read this story, I hope you enjoy the last chapter! ^v^

Step. Step. Step.

Around and around each other like a whirlpool.

Never stopping. Never looking away. Never flinching, even when your opponent barred their teeth.

Emperor vs emperor. Cousin vs cousin. And yet, neither one of them dared to make a move. Not just yet. So they just kept circling each other. Step after step. ‘Round and ‘round.

“I figured you would have attacked by now,” Zatharie said finally, tilting his head slightly, “What, regretting your challenge?”

“No way,” Awesome said simply. He barely even glared at his cousin. Unlike last time, he was completely focused.

“Well,” Zath began to say as he slowed his steps a bit, “if you’re still so confident in your win, then attack me.”

“You first, cus’.”

The tiger-shark hummed. Perhaps his cousin had learned something from their last fight, or maybe his entourage had given him a quick training session before crashing his concert. Whatever the reason, it didn’t matter. Whether he waited for Awesome to attack or took the first move, it didn’t matter. He was still stronger, faster, _better_. This was going to be his victory easily.

So… “Fine.” Zath rushed forward, managing to land a hit square on Awesome’s chest. But, before he could land another, Awesome backed up to avoid it. Having a bit of room now, Awesome threw a few punches of his own, but all of them were blocked.

Smirking, Zatharie quickly went back on the offensive, throwing punch after punch as his cousin tried to keep up. He actually managed to land a pretty hard hit on Awesome’s already cut arm, nearly making him cry out. Zath grinned at that, but didn’t slow down any to enjoy it. As amusing as this all was, he wanted to end this little duel and start doing some damage control as soon as possible - and because of this, the emperor refused to let up, putting as much strength as he could into each attack.

As for Awesome, he tried to do what he did best when it came to fighting: Staying light on his feet. Dodge left, dodge right, duck, block, block, swerve-! Backstep, step right, slide left, quick step! ‘Just like dancing,’ he thought to himself. As long as he kept moving, he still had a chance.

The crowd was yelling and cheering as the excitement grew. Who had the upper hand? Who would win? More importantly, who _deserved_ to win?

As he continued to successfully dodge and block for the most part, Awesome started to try and go back on the offensive, throwing a punch or a kick here and there - and missing almost every time.

“Don’t tire yourself out just yet, Guppy,” Zath taunted, throwing yet another punch of his own, “You’re all about putting on a show, aren’t you?” This time, he aimed his attack towards Awesome’s stomach, hoping to knock him off balance once again.

Seeing the attack coming, Awesome did the first thing that came to his mind - and let himself fall back. The punch was a total miss, and Awesome caught himself with his arms before he could even touch the floor. And, before Zath could even process the move, the former emperor pushed himself back up and continued the fight. He threw a 1-2 punch before crouching back down, sweeping his cousin’s legs and surprising him once again.

Of course, Zath wasn’t going to go down THAT easily. While he did stumble a bit, he still quickly regained his balance. But, perhaps not quick enough, for as soon as he was back on his feet, Awesome had shifted into a pattern of punching and swerving.

With his feet as light and as fast as ever, both his arms and his torso seemed to flow like water, allowing him to shift from offense to defense in a split second. There were even a couple instances where he pirouetted just in time to avoid a hit, only to shift into a high kick. More and more of his attacks were meeting their target, and it was obvious Zath was starting to get tired.

Basically, Awesome had gotten into his groove - and it was indeed _awesome_.

“It’s just as I suspected,” Peepers said quietly, allowing just a bit of pride to slip into his voice. Maybe a dancer wasn’t the best choice for a fighter, but perhaps a dancer’s body - one with balance and flexibility as well as strength - did belong on a battlefield.

“Woo! Yes! YES!” Hater pumped his fist. “Go Awesome! You-! ...Wow. Never thought I’d ever say that. But- COME ON, AWESOME! You’ve got this!”

“Just don’t get too cocky,” Peepers added, frowning a bit now. Skills or no, this still wasn’t going to be an easy fight…

Zath growled as he tried to dodge another hit. A mostly successful attempt, though he was still nicked by his cousin’s fist, with another punch on the way. Awesome had already lasted far longer than he had been expecting, and now he was trying to make it look like he had the upper hand? _Unacceptable_.

It was time to show his cousin what a REAL fight looked like.

Opening his mouth, Zath rushed forward, his hands open, Once he managed to grab hold of Awesome, he pulled him close and bit into his arm, biting as deeply as he could. And that time, Awesome did cry out.

With a good section of their population having sharp teeth, it usually wasn’t too much of a surprise when a scuffle between two Aquallians involved some biting. Still, with how ferocious the attack was, a few couldn’t help but gasp at the sight. Awesome’s crew began to boo while Hater shouted about how the attack was ‘against the rules’ and that ‘teeth still counted as a weapon!’.

But whether or not it was ‘fair’, Awesome knew there still wouldn’t be any referee or anything coming up to stop it. He had to get out of it himself, or forfeit. So, he began pounding against his cousin’s back and kicking at his legs, putting in as much strength as he could use without causing himself to pass out.

Unfortunately, Zath didn’t let up. If anything, he bit down even harder, and Awesome was beginning to feel a bit dizzy from the blood loss… But hey, losing by knockout was still better than surrendering and letting people down. So, he kept fighting back - and he got an idea.

Moving his fist from Zath’s back to his head, Awesome knocked off his crown, grabbed his spiky hair-  and yanked it right off!

Zath gasped, his mouth loosening just enough for Awesome to finally shove him off. And, despite the blood dripping down his arm and the throbbing pain, he couldn’t help but laugh. “I-I knew it! I flarpin’ KNEW this was a wig-!”

And in that moment, Emperor Zatharie saw nothing but red. “You’re DEAD!” Practically launching himself towards his cousin, Zath tried to tackle him to the floor, but Awesome managed to kick him away just in time. Of course, this did little to slow Zath down. He threw punch after punch, snarling and growling with each attack. And, since he was pretty much down to one arm, all Awesome could do was try to dodge - and even that was easier said than done, at this point.

The crowd was going nuts, practically screaming their gills off! With all the waves they were making, it was almost a miracle that the floating amphitheater was staying steady enough for them to fight on. With no hood to pull down, Hater gripped his skull as he continued to watch, both he and Peepers silently hoping to grop that Awesome could still somehow pull of a win.

No matter who they were cheering on, every spectator there knew that the fight was coming to a close. Both emperors were running out of stamina, and Awesome was quickly running out of moves. The shark must’ve known this too, if his clear frustration was any evidence.

“Come on, you muscle-headed mackerel,” Peepers nearly shouted as his fists tightened, “Figure out how to beat him! You can do this!”

He could do this… “Tc’ch.” Yeah, he wanted to beat his cousin once and for all, but could he actually do it? Oh yeah, sure, totally. Even though he had a practically busted arm, and was still physically weaker than his cousin even with all the damage Zath had taken on, not to mention the size difference-

Awesome’s eyes widened. The world around them began to slow down. His fast feet allowed him to dodge one last attack, and after that he dug his heels into the floorboards.

Not that Zath noticed, he was focused on finally ending their little fight, and he was determined to make this next attack the beginning of the end. He nearly laughed as he watched Awesome put up his arms. ‘Block all you want, Guppy,’ he thought, ‘It won’t make a difference.’

With a cry, Zath threw his fist forward- and there it was. The perfect opportunity to turn the tides of the battle once more. The TRUE end of their fight.

Keeping his bad arm up to block his face, Awesome took the hit for as long as he needed to. Then, before Zath could pull his fist away, Awesome used his other hand to grab his wrist, holding onto it as tightly as he could.

Peepers’ pupil shrunk. He almost couldn’t believe his eye - and yet, at the same time, it seemed like the perfect way to wrap things up.

Once he had made sure that Zath wasn’t going anywhere, Awesome then grabbed his wrist with his other hand, bent his knees as he crouched down, putting all his strength in his arms and shoulders, and-

**_*WHAM!*_ **

In one swift motion, Zatharie was on the floor, flat on his back with the wind knocked completely out of him. Not wanting to give him a chance to get back up, Awesome gave him a few quick punches in the face. Over and over and over, one after the other - though even those weren’t enough to stop the emperor completely. Thankfully, as soon as he saw Zath trying to get up, Awesome acted quickly and held him down, getting him into a headlock position.

Zath thrashed and flailed, trying as hard as he could to escape his cousin’s grip, but to no avail. Gritting his teeth, Awesome shouted at him, “Give it up! Come on, yield!” But the tiger-shark continued to fight, even as his breathing became shallow. “Yield, dude!” Awesome shouted again, “Or I get out MY teeth!”

That seemed to get through to him. His struggling slowed, and eventually, as he reluctantly slammed his hand down, Zath shouted, “I yield! You… You win!”

And just like that, it was over.

While his cousin stayed laying down, still needing to catch his breath, Awesome rose to his feet. He swayed just a little, his head still a bit fuzzy, but for the most part he stood tall. Spotting it  nearby, he picked up Zath’s crown and placed it on his own head, making his victory all the more clear.

Some Aquallians were cheering. Others were booing, and others still didn’t really know how to react. After all, it wasn’t every day that two members of the royal family battled for the throne, with the current emperor actually losing! And with all the other truth bombs from that night, Awesome couldn’t really blame them for feeling a bit overwhelmed.

Still, even with the mixed reactions he was getting, Awesome smiled when he felt a boney hand on his back. “Hmph, see? Told you that you’d beat him,” Hater said.

“Heh, yeah Hatey, you sure did,” Awesome nodded, giving the skeleton a small nudge.

Moving to stand on the other side of him, Peepers gave a look of approval. “I think it’s safe to say that this ‘performance’ has certainly outshone the last time you were on a stage,” he added, “Though, I believe I remember seeing that last big move of yours somewhere.”

The shark chuckled. “Well, what can I say, Peeps? I guess I had a pretty good trainer…

“Well… Congratulations, I suppose.”

The trio turned their heads. Zatharie was on his feet now, and while he certainly wasn’t happy, he didn’t try to attack them. He had just lost an official royal battle, there was nothing he could do - at least, not at that moment. Still, as he began to walk off the stage, he gave his cousin one last look.

“I took care of this planet - _your_ planet - for years. I may not have pleased everyone, but for the most part I kept our society from falling apart. I did what I had to do. I made sure the true heart of Aqualla thrived. And now that you’ve decided that you’re finally ready to take on your duties, I have only one thing to say to you, Herschel: **_Let’s see you do better._ ** ”

Awesome didn’t say a word in return. He just watched as his cousin walked away, slipping into the shadows of the backstage curtains…

()()()()()()()()()()()

The following twenty-fours felt like a complete blur, to the point where Awesome couldn’t even remember half of the stuff he had agreed to or planned out. Geez… Maybe he should have taken Peepers’ advice and written out his speech on notecards.

“Then again, this ain’t the first time I’ve given a speech,” Awesome told himself as he finished up his makeup. He knew what he wanted and needed to say, and he knew what his biggest points were. He would be fine.

“...Woah…”

Glancing over his shoulder, Awesome smirked. “See somethin’ you like, Hatey~?”

Hater scowled as he came into the room, with Peepers naturally by his side. “Shut up! I only said that ‘cause I’m not used to you actually dressing like a royal!”

“Heh, you and me both, bruh.” He glanced down at himself. His suit was fairly traditional - a blue jacket (though a shade lighter than what was traditionally worn) with a gold trim and purple dress-pants. However, there were still some ‘awesome’ personal touches here and there. He had chosen to wear his own cape with the furry collar, and he had added a bit of bling to the outfit. He also rolled up the sleeves a bit, giving his arms just a bit more breathing room. (He lightly touched his right arm, making sure the bandages underneath were still secure.) And, of course, he had his trademark white heeled boots and colorful make-up.

“Surprisingly, you pull off the look well,” Peepers commented.

“Tc’ch, no surprise there. I pull off EVERY look well~”

The Commander rolled his eye. “Are you ready for this?”

“Uh, yeah. Pretty ready,” Awesome nodded as he did one last mirror check.

“I hope so. You don’t exactly have a ‘song of peace and submissiveness’ back-up plan if the Aquallians ever decide to revolt-”

“Believe me, man, I know… But, hey, that just gives me some extra initiative to not make any major screw-ups. I can totes handle it, trust me.”

Peepers watched him, taking a couple steps forward. “Alright…” he began, his tone a bit softer now, “And, are you ready for all this-” he gestured to the balcony, and everything beyond it- “then?”

Awesome paused, his crown still in his hands. He turned to face the two of them, his smile gone. “...If we’re being real here, no. Part of me isn’t ready. Part of me, if it had it’s way, would’ve been partying at the nearest dance club and downing it’s fifth or sixth shot by now.”

“Hmph.” Hater crossed his arms. “Sounds a lot like the old Awesome to me.”

Awesome chuckled slightly. “Yeah…” That was what he had wanted to return to, right? Partying as much as possible, making sure that he enjoyed life to its fullest, and just having a good time 24/7 no matter what. But- “But then, another part of me-”

He thought of his friends. He thought of Hater and Peepers, and all of the memories and experiences and training over the past year or so - heck, even before that. He thought of Zath and his parents. His people. His planet. His chance to make things right.

 _Let the party end. Focus on the present. Try_ **_again. Let's see you do better._ **

“...” Slowly, his smile returned, and he placed his crown on his head. “Well, I think another part of me is as ready as I’ll ever be. I mean, come on? Who’s the awesome emperor here?”

Peepers blinked, then smiled back. “Well, I don’t know about ‘awesome’ just yet. Let’s just see how you do with your first public appearance.”

“Fair enough.” Now or never, he supposed. So, Awesome took a deep breath, and stepped out onto the balcony. Warm wind blew across his face as the sun continued to set, causing his smile to grow a bit. Moving the castle to a more neutral spot - one that both underwater and islander Aquallians could easily reach - had definitely been a good idea.

It had been an easy enough move too, using Hater’s levitation abilities, some well-placed floating devices and a couple of anchors. Sure, half of the castle was still underwater, and the balcony now wasn’t as high up as it could be, but so what? He would make it work.

He looked down at his citizens, who gave him looks of curiosity, eagerness, concern, and everything in-between. Not wanting to make them wait any longer, Awesome cleared his throat, and moved towards the microphone.

“People of Aqualla… S’up?”

No one responded. A couple people coughed. ...Alright then, moving on.

“I understand that all of this is probably pretty shocking for some of you,” he continued, “And, to a lot of you, I’m just the emperor that left his throne and never came back… And for that, I am sorry. I know now just how big of a mistake that was, and I’m gonna try to make up for that starting now. But I know that may not be enough, and that’s okay. You all don’t have to like me, you don’t have to approve of me, you don’t have to forgive or even respect me. I get it, I messed up majorly. However, I’m still the emperor here, and whether or not I’ve got any fans doesn’t matter. I’m still gonna listen to you, even if you curse me out. I’m still going to do what I can to help our planet, and to keep it awesome.”

His audience began talking amongst themselves, clearly surprised by their new emperor’s words. However, there weren’t any boos and no one tried to leave, so Awesome figured he was doing alright so far.

“I’m also here to tell you all about some big plans that I’ve already got goin’ on. For starters, I’ve just agreed to an official alliance with the Hater Empire. Hatey, let ‘em know who you are, dude.”

“O-Oh, uh-” Hater, who had been standing just a bit behind Awesome, quickly raised his hand. “Um, hey,” he said, trying not to look too sheepish. Peepers also stepped forward, giving the crowd a small nod.

“In case you don’t know, Lord Hater here helped save the Galaxy from being totally destroyed. His empire has hundreds of planets in it, and he protects and helps them all. So, along with doing a bit of training with the Hater Empire, Hatey’s also gonna help us with some rebuilding projects. Basically, for those of you living on the islands: We’re finally gonna help you guys get back on your feet. Help rebuild your shops and homes, get you the supplies you need, all of that.”

By this point, the crowd had gotten much louder. Some were absolutely thrilled, cheering and clapping. Others were shaking their head, scoffing at the notion and calling it a waste of funds. To some, it just seemed like another act of favoritism.

Thankfully, Awesome had been expecting this. “The islands need the most help at the moment, but that doesn’t mean that I’m gonna be focusing ALL my time and energy on them. I’m not, like, gonna be dismantling a ton of things underwater and sending all the gold and pearls and grop to the surface or anything like that.” Raising his voice a bit, he insisted, “I want everyone to know where I’m coming from here.”

Slowly, everyone began to quiet down some, and when he felt like it quiet enough, Awesome continued. “No surprise here, I was born in the ocean. And, just to be totally transparent here, I don’t get some of our traditions, or some of our standards. I can’t exactly call myself a super fancy or classy guy.” At this point, he could practically hear Peepers wincing. “But… I don’t hate the ocean. It’s actually a pretty rad place. There are parts of our culture that I do like, sights down there that I’ll never get tired of seeing, water that I’ll never get tired of swimming through.

“And, like many people here used to do, I’d also spend some days on the islands, where I saw a whole new side of life on Aqualla. Different food, different styles, different dances - it was incredible! I made friends on the islands. Really great friends.” He smiled as he looked out over the water. Even at a distance, he could still spot his crew - though, maybe that was just because of Shimizu stretching her tentacles up as far as they could go while she held a sign with his logo on it, or because of just how loud Gnarly kept cheering. “Whether I was in the sun or in the sea, it didn’t matter. Because as many differences as there were, there were similarities too. And either way, it was still Aqualla. It was still _home_.”

He paused, making sure to look both serious and sympathetic. “I know there’s a lot of friction between our two societies. But we can’t let those differences blind us, and we can’t keep thinking that where a person decides to live is an act of treason if it’s the ‘wrong’ one. Not anymore. Because, like, come on guys, it’s really not. Underwater or surface, traditional or modern - it shouldn’t matter. Because we’re all still Aquallians, and we all need and deserve the same things: Happiness, safety and the chance to live the life we want.”

Awesome then closed his eyes. “When… When I was- W-When I ran into- I-” He stopped, and took a deep breath. “...When I was captured by… by Lord Dominator, I realized something pretty important… No matter how strong or untouchable you think you are - for whatever reason, whether it’s wealth or power or awesomeness or whatever - it’s never enough if you’re still alone. And it’s the same for a divided planet. I can guarantee you that D-Dominator isn’t going to be the last threat this galaxy sees… And just because our planet is isolated and lowkey doesn’t guarantee we’re safe. After all, _she_ was still able to find this place…”

Looking more determined than ever now, Awesome opened his eyes again. “We may be a mix of cultures and lifestyles, but we are still one planet. One species. And if we truly want to thrive and be a utopia and all that stuff, then we’ve gotta have each other’s backs. We’ve gotta fight for each other, look out for one another. We’ve gotta respect each other. That’s my biggest goal as emperor, to bring the two sides of Aqualla together and make ‘em bros like they should be… And I hope that you’ll all help me with that.”

There was another pause, and the emperor looked for reactions. He saw a few unsure faces, a few uninterested faces from both sides, as if they were saying “Why would we waste our time with people so crude and uncouth?” or “Why would I have a snob’s back?”.

But, eventually, a couple people started clapping. Then a couple more, and then a dozen more. After a full minute, most of the crowd was applauding him, seemingly showing their support. It definitely wasn’t the biggest applause he’d ever gotten, but it was one of the greatest. And, when Awesome gave them a bow, the applause grew louder.

“...One last thing I wanna mention,” he said, standing straight once more, “I’m gonna be throwing a planet-wide party this weekend.”

 _“What?!”_ Peepers hissed, while at the same time Hater quietly commented, “Uh, I don’t think he mentioned that before. When did this happen?” “Ugh, considering this is Awesome we’re talking about, I’m sure it was always on his mind!”

Awesome smirked slightly before continuing on with the final part of his speech. “Zatharie pretty much spent his whole emperor-career making sure that the Aquallians already underwater stayed there, insisting that the ones who lived on the islands were total outsiders and weren’t worth visiting, even though - again - that definitely wasn’t how it was when I was a kid. So, I think it’s time we all get reacquainted, and I can’t really think of a better way to do that than with a rockin’ party.

“And this party isn’t gonna have a dress code. No ‘donation’ that you have to pay to get in, and no bouncer kicking people out because they’re too this or not enough that or whatever! No one’s gonna be forced to go, but no one’s going to be forced to stay away either. So, I hope that you all of you come so we can have an awesome time together.” Giving his audience one last bow, Awesome walked off the balcony, a quiet applause following his exit.

“Well, that was… Actually not that bad,” Hater admitted, “Hmph, you could’ve given me a warning before just pointing me out… But yeah, I think they liked you. No one boo’d or threw anything so-”

“Yeah,” Awesome nodded, “I’d say it was pretty successful.”

A sigh caused both rulers to look down at a suddenly VERY tired looking eyeball. “I hope you realize that a party can’t solve every problem that your citizens may have with you or each other.”

“Heh, yeah, I know,” Awesome told him, his smile never faltering, “But hey, maybe it can at least get the ball rolling.” And if one of his infamous parties could destroy a planet, maybe they could bring a planet together too.

()()()()()()()()()()()

Two weeks seemed to fly by almost instantly. The Watchdogs - along with whatever Fistfighters they managed to contact and convince to become part of Aqualla’s army - worked fast. There was still a lot to do, no doubt about that, but many shops and structures had been fixed already.

Because of this, many shopkeepers and former islanders began moving back to the islands. Awesome had nearly cried when he ran into his old dance teacher, who had promised to try her hardest to get Groove Thang up and running again as soon as she could, with Awesome in turn promising to do anything he could to help her.

The ‘party initiative’ (as Peepers had coined) also seemed to be working fairly well. A lot of elites were still against and unamused by the idea, but even so, the parties always seemed to have plenty of Aquallians from both sides. His crew also helped him make sure that the parties ran smoothly, as well as just making sure everyone had a good time. Technically it was work, but it sure didn’t feel like it.

Of course, it wasn’t JUST parties that Awesome had to worry about, for it seemed that even emperors had to deal with paperwork. Budgets, formal requests and complaints, various bills that needed to be read and discussed over and over again- all that stuff that, while necessary, was still boring as grop. Luckily, Hater and Peepers were the ones that were able to give him a hand with that stuff, something that Awesome was definitely thankful for.

However, even good allies couldn’t stay forever…

“-I thought for sure I was gonna beat you this time! I was so close!”

“Hardly,” Peepers said coolly, “I may have trained you well and taught you many things, Private, but I didn’t teach you EVERYTHING.” And even if he had, Peepers still definitely wasn’t a soldier to mess with.

Awesome laughed. “Uhh, I think you meant ‘emperor’, bro.”

“Oh, there was no mistake. As long as you’re on this ship, you’re still a private to me,” Peepers shot back.

“Tc’ch, of course I am. Dumb nerd.”

“That’s a contradiction.”

“Ugh.” He shook his head. “I canNOT believe… that I’m actually going to miss you.”

Peepers blinked. “...The feeling’s mutual,” he admitted, “Just don’t slack off on your training. I can assure you, when we return here in three months to swap out the troops and check up on things, I will be testing you. No way am I going to let all my hard work go to waste or allow your skills to get rusty.”

“Tc’ch, I wanted a rematch anyway,” Awesome grinned, “Bring it on Peepsqueak. As soon as you get on my turf, we are TOTES gonna throw down!”

Peepers smirked back at him. “Hmph, bring it on indeed…”

Soon enough, they were at the mouth of the ship. Awesome glanced over at the boardwalk, lights already aglow despite there still being some light left from the falling sun. The area was fairly busy, filled with Aquallians and unfamiliars alike.

That had been another tough idea to sell to his people, to make Aqualla more known to the Galaxy and to convince other species to visit. After all, Aquallians had believed for years that tourism would ruin their utopia - even those on the islands who would benefit from the extra revenue were unsure! Zath’s propaganda about the subject didn’t really help either. But eventually, thanks to some assurances from the Hater Empire and a very good first impression from an infamous wanderer and his tough best friend, he was able to gain some support for this plan as well.

“Things really are starting to shape up nice here,” Awesome commented, putting his hands on his hips as he looked at it all, “And yeah, I know there’s still a ton of work left to do, and not all of it is gonna run smoothly but… It’s gonna be worth it, you know? If I can make this planet an awesome place for everyone that lives here, it’ll be worth it…”

Peepers nodded, giving the shark a quick look of approval. The words of a _true_ ruler (one that was on the side of good now, anyway). Shifting his gaze down towards the ocean, he cupped his hands. “ _SIRRRR!_ I think it’s time we make our leave!”

“Just a couple more minutes, Peepers!” Hater yelled back. Tucked under his arm were two palm tree shakes for the road - once he had actually managed to try one, he had insisted that they were “one of the greatest dessert in the Galaxy!” and just had to take some with him. And in his hands was a small water-filled glass tank that he was gently coaxing jellyfish into. “Come on, guys, hurry up! Let's go, plenty of room for everyone!” The jellies hummed with electricity as they swam around the tank, turning various shades of green and making their new owner smile.

“Heh, guess you couldn’t convince him to leave his new ‘pets’ behind, huh?”

“Nnnnope.” The Commander sighed. “Frankly, I just hope he doesn’t get too attached. Whether they’re electrified or not, something tells me Captain Tim will still only see them as a snack…”

“Ooh, yeah… But, I mean, if anyone can train him not to eat jellies, it’s Hatey.” “True…” Still, he wasn’t holding his breath.

A comfortable silence fell between the two of them. There was no malice, no more hatred or loathing or even annoyance. Not really. There was nothing else to say, except…

“...Hey, Peepers.”

“Hm?” Peepers turned, and nearly flinched when he saw the fist right near his face.

Awesome brought his hand back a bit. “Er, sorry. It’s, you know, it’s a fistbump, dude. I’m not gonna hur-”

“I know what a fistbump is!” Peepers snapped, “Glorn, I’m not THAT out of touch!” Still, in that moment, he couldn’t help but remember the last time Awesome’s fist was directed at his face, as well as the seconds before it.

_“But what have you’ve got, Awesome, hm? Armbands? A hot tub? HA! One day you’ll wake up and realize all you’ve got is a bunch of ugly clothes, no real friends and - as a villain - you’re a FAILURE!”_

‘...Hmph, none of that is true anymore,’ he thought to himself. Raising his own fist, Peepers tapped Awesome’s - though he didn’t join him in making the ‘blow it up’ noise. He did however, give Awesome a quick salute, which the shark gladly returned.

Eventually, Hater crawled up the long tongue, his new pets and delicious shakes still in tow. But even with these things, the skeleton couldn’t help but feel a bit somber. “So uh… Bye, I guess. I’ll, uh- ...J-Just, don’t screw anything up while we’re gone.”

“Heh, I’ll try not to. And, Hatey? ...Thanks for lettin’ me crash on your ship and be part of your army for a while. It uh… It helped even more than I thought it would, and I’m totes grateful, I really am.” He chuckled. “And yeah… I’m gonna miss you too.” Hater didn’t say anything to that, but he did smile at him as they exchanged their own fistbump.

With no more goodbyes to give, Awesome stepped out of the metal jaw and slid down the ship’s tongue, landing in the shallow waters below. He didn’t head back to shore right away though. Instead he stood there, watching as the Skullship closed up and flew up towards the atmosphere, soon becoming nothing more than a distant star.

He kept smiling though, never letting it falter. “Heh… Thanks, bros. For everything.”

()()()()()()()()()()()

_The setting was familiar… Far too familiar. He could feel the heat all around him, hear the lava flowing within the walls. A tall, dark figure grinned at him._

_“Did you really think that you could even stand a CHANCE against me?” she asked, lifting a now-glowing hand._

_Before Awesome could even try to move back, he felt hot rock rise up and cover his feet. The lava rose up to his ankles, then his knees. He hissed in pain, body shaking in both pain and fear. Laughing, the figure created more spouts of lava, the element soon taking the form of a shark with sharp, obsidian teeth. The lava sharks swam around him, circling him, surrounding him._

_The lava was up to his waist now, and getting higher by the second. Finally stepping into the light, Dominator just laughed. Her entire body was made out of glowing hot magma, her cruel eyes burning into him like her drill going through a planet. “You really are PATHETIC, aren’t you~?” she asked, raising both her arms now as her figure grew bigger and stronger, eventually shifting into her armor and mask._ **_“A pathetic, waste of SPACE!”_ **

_Awesome clenched his eyes shut, preparing himself for the final blow. ...At least, that’s what Dominator assumed he was doing. However, just as she brought her fists back to strike him, a blue glowing light began to appear. First on his chest, right where his heart would be, and then the aura spread all across his body._

_“Y-you… You’re stronger…” he said quietly, “But… But I’m not pathetic! Not anymore!”_

_Small waves began lapping at his heels while the lava covering him began to slow and cool. The water now in the room rose higher and higher. The sharks fled while Dominator just sneered, taking a couple steps back. Her body became hotter as she attempted to use her heat to stop the waves from coming any closer, but eventually even that wasn’t enough._

_As the blue aura around him grew brighter, Awesome started to struggle again. The rock began to crumble, piece by piece. He punched, pulled, kicked at his restraints, causing even bigger cracks while bigger chunks of it began to fall off, easily carried away by the rising tides. Before he knew it, he was standing tall once more, his burns completely healed._

_No longer shaking, the emperor opened his eyes. Dominator was still standing in front of him, her suit washed away and her body black and rough. Only her burning, fiery eyes remained._

_“This isn’t the end, you know,” she told him as more and more of her form was eroded and crumbled, “I’ll never truly be gone… I’ll keep coming back. I’ll keep burning you, keep destroying you… And you’re still afraid, aren’t you…?”_

_“Of course I am,” Awesome admitted, though he didn’t look away, “And I probably always will be. And that sucks… It REALLY sucks.” Clenching his fists, he glared at her. “But I’m gonna keep fighting… Even if I lose, I’ll just fight harder next time. You may keep coming back, but I won’t be your prisoner again._ **_Never_ ** _again.”_

_As her eyes finally began to cool and burn out, the rock chuckled. “We’ll see,” she smirked. And with that, her body finally broke apart completely._

_Awesome sighed, and let himself fall back, allowing the safe, cooling waves to take him away too._

He opened his eyes. A quick glance at the clock revealed that it was still the middle of the night. “...Huh.” Awesome turned his gaze back up towards the ceiling.

He could remember his nightmare - his dream - vividly, both the good and bad parts of it. But his body didn’t feel hot, nor was it shaking. He didn’t feel like he needed to distract himself or block anything out. He didn’t feel like he was in danger, but he didn’t feel super happy or confident either. Mostly, he just wanted to go back to sleep.

And so, that’s just what he did.

**THE END**


End file.
